Oak Lawn officials sued; teen charged
Sued from Page 1 “our entire administration will fully cooperate with the Illinois State Police investigation and accommodate any of their needs and requests.”
The statement said officials will not make any other comments about the arrest until the investigation is completed.
During a news conference Thursday, police Chief Daniel Vittorio said the officers involved feared for their safety and suggested they would have been in their right to use deadly force. But when asked to respond to calls for the officers be fired, he said an internal investigation was being conducted.
“Let the investigation take its course,” he said.
Oak Lawn, the village’s Police Department and three unidentified officers are named as defendants in the federal lawsuit, which alleges the officers involved in the arrest conspired among one another in a “racially motivated conspiracy” to deprive of the teen of his constitutional rights because he is Arab American.
The complaint was filed by the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and Zaid Abdallah, an attorney for the plaintiff and his family.
Police have released dashboard camera videos of the pursuit and arrest, but the complaint alleges that police have “presented an edited and doctored version” of the footage “in an effort to conceal the actions” of the officers.
Police said the teen had, after his release from the hospital, been taken to the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center for a detention hearing, which one of his attorneys said would likely occur Tuesday.
Video taken by eyewitnesses and police dashboard camera footage show initially two officers restraining the teen in the street in the area of 95th Street and McVicker Avenue following a foot chase.
One officer is punching the youth in the thigh while a second officer delivers several blows to the teen’s head, the images show. A third officer arrives and a Taser is used and the teen is handcuffed. Officers found a .25 caliber pistol in a bag that had been draped over his shoulder.
Abdallah said the use of force by officers was “extremely excessive and savage and malicious.”
Police at a news conference Thursday said the officers involved in the arrest have not been placed on leave.
The incident began at about 5:30 p.m. July 27 when police stopped a vehicle that lacked a front license plate and had “an odor of burnt cannabis” coming from it, Vittorio said Thursday. The vehicle was stopped in the 9500 block of Southwest Highway.
Dashboard footage shows the vehicle’s driver stepping out of the car and consenting to a pat-down search and being asked to step to the rear of the car. The 17-year-old was a passenger in the rear driver side seat, and as police tried to search him he ran off.
In a news release, police described the youth as being “of Middle Eastern descent.”
Vittorio said responding officers feared the teen had a firearm in an “accessory bag” he carried over his shoulder.
In Saturday’s statement, the village said it commended “our officers’ decision to use less-thanlethal force to detain the armed offender.”
On Friday, following Vittorio’s news conference, the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said it disputed the chief’s contention that the teen posed a threat to officers, describing him as a “frail minor.”
Staff attorney Emma Melton said the officers acted as judge and jury in the arrest.
“Regardless of any suspected crime, once the child was tackled to the ground, he should have been cuffed and put into the squad car. Instead, officers took justice into their own hands and let their own bias cloud their professional judgment,” she said in a statement issued by CAIR.
In response to the CAIR statement, Vittorio said Saturday he was “disappointed” by the council’s comments on the officers’ actions, and that “they do not address that the offender was self admittedly under the influence of THC and illegally in possession of a firearm.”
Police had said that after the teen was taken to the police station, a THC vape cartridge was found on him and he had admitted to smoking it earlier.
Vittorio said that a spokesman for the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview contacted the village requesting a meeting between its leadership council and the village concerning the arrest.
The chief said that he and Oak Lawn Mayor Terry Vorderer have agreed to meet but that the village has not yet received a response from the mosque.
In a statement Thursday, the Mosque Foundation said it “condemns the excessive and disturbing use of force” in the arrest.
“We demand a complete and transparent investigation and appropriate disciplinary measures upon those officers involved,” said Oussama Jammal, the foundation’s president.
Oak Lawn officers are not equipped with bodyworn cameras, but police released the dash-camera recordings of the initial traffic stop and subsequent foot chase.
After the teen flees from the initial traffic stop, an officer is heard shouting “stop running,” then additional video shows officers in a foot pursuit, with one saying “he’s going to McDonald’s,” which is next to where the teen was caught.
The squad car footage doesn’t show the initial contact officers had with him, and cuts to video of the suspect on the ground, with one officer punching the teen in the right thigh and a second officer punching the youth in the head.
Abdallah, the family’s attorney, said Thursday the teen suffered a broken nose, bruising across his face and body, and internal bleeding near his brain and
The statement said officials will not make any other comments about the arrest until the investigation is completed.
During a news conference Thursday, police Chief Daniel Vittorio said the officers involved feared for their safety and suggested they would have been in their right to use deadly force. But when asked to respond to calls for the officers be fired, he said an internal investigation was being conducted.
“Let the investigation take its course,” he said.
Oak Lawn, the village’s Police Department and three unidentified officers are named as defendants in the federal lawsuit, which alleges the officers involved in the arrest conspired among one another in a “racially motivated conspiracy” to deprive of the teen of his constitutional rights because he is Arab American.
The complaint was filed by the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and Zaid Abdallah, an attorney for the plaintiff and his family.
Police have released dashboard camera videos of the pursuit and arrest, but the complaint alleges that police have “presented an edited and doctored version” of the footage “in an effort to conceal the actions” of the officers.
Police said the teen had, after his release from the hospital, been taken to the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center for a detention hearing, which one of his attorneys said would likely occur Tuesday.
Video taken by eyewitnesses and police dashboard camera footage show initially two officers restraining the teen in the street in the area of 95th Street and McVicker Avenue following a foot chase.
One officer is punching the youth in the thigh while a second officer delivers several blows to the teen’s head, the images show. A third officer arrives and a Taser is used and the teen is handcuffed. Officers found a .25 caliber pistol in a bag that had been draped over his shoulder.
Abdallah said the use of force by officers was “extremely excessive and savage and malicious.”
Police at a news conference Thursday said the officers involved in the arrest have not been placed on leave.
The incident began at about 5:30 p.m. July 27 when police stopped a vehicle that lacked a front license plate and had “an odor of burnt cannabis” coming from it, Vittorio said Thursday. The vehicle was stopped in the 9500 block of Southwest Highway.
Dashboard footage shows the vehicle’s driver stepping out of the car and consenting to a pat-down search and being asked to step to the rear of the car. The 17-year-old was a passenger in the rear driver side seat, and as police tried to search him he ran off.
In a news release, police described the youth as being “of Middle Eastern descent.”
Vittorio said responding officers feared the teen had a firearm in an “accessory bag” he carried over his shoulder.
In Saturday’s statement, the village said it commended “our officers’ decision to use less-thanlethal force to detain the armed offender.”
On Friday, following Vittorio’s news conference, the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said it disputed the chief’s contention that the teen posed a threat to officers, describing him as a “frail minor.”
Staff attorney Emma Melton said the officers acted as judge and jury in the arrest.
“Regardless of any suspected crime, once the child was tackled to the ground, he should have been cuffed and put into the squad car. Instead, officers took justice into their own hands and let their own bias cloud their professional judgment,” she said in a statement issued by CAIR.
In response to the CAIR statement, Vittorio said Saturday he was “disappointed” by the council’s comments on the officers’ actions, and that “they do not address that the offender was self admittedly under the influence of THC and illegally in possession of a firearm.”
Police had said that after the teen was taken to the police station, a THC vape cartridge was found on him and he had admitted to smoking it earlier.
Vittorio said that a spokesman for the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview contacted the village requesting a meeting between its leadership council and the village concerning the arrest.
The chief said that he and Oak Lawn Mayor Terry Vorderer have agreed to meet but that the village has not yet received a response from the mosque.
In a statement Thursday, the Mosque Foundation said it “condemns the excessive and disturbing use of force” in the arrest.
“We demand a complete and transparent investigation and appropriate disciplinary measures upon those officers involved,” said Oussama Jammal, the foundation’s president.
Oak Lawn officers are not equipped with bodyworn cameras, but police released the dash-camera recordings of the initial traffic stop and subsequent foot chase.
After the teen flees from the initial traffic stop, an officer is heard shouting “stop running,” then additional video shows officers in a foot pursuit, with one saying “he’s going to McDonald’s,” which is next to where the teen was caught.
The squad car footage doesn’t show the initial contact officers had with him, and cuts to video of the suspect on the ground, with one officer punching the teen in the right thigh and a second officer punching the youth in the head.
Abdallah, the family’s attorney, said Thursday the teen suffered a broken nose, bruising across his face and body, and internal bleeding near his brain and
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