Palatine salon owner sues police, claims excessive force

A prominent downtown Palatine business owner, who says he was arrested while intoxicated during last year’s Street Fest, is suing the police department, claiming misconduct including the use of excessive force while he was in custody, resulting in hearing and memory loss.

Mark Nelson, 47, said he was “kissing and fondling” a 21-year-old woman the night of Aug. 27, 2010, in the front window of the Nelson Salon Group at 39 W. Slate St., located in the heart of the festival. Both were fully clothed, according to the lawsuit.

The display prompted officers to go to the salon at 10:15 p.m. and then call the fire department to check on the woman, who was also intoxicated and taken to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights for evaluation.

According to the suit, which seeks damages in excess of $50,000, Nelson wasn’t free to leave the premises and was charged with battery when police said he knowingly made physical contact of an insulting nature by pushing Det. Robert Bice in the chest with an open hand.

Later on at the Palatine police station, Nelson said he was given permission to use the bathroom. While he was urinating, the suit states, Bice, Det. Brian Leal and other unknown officers came toward Nelson and with “great force” pushed his head into a brick wall, causing him to bleed and lose consciousness.

Officers Bice and Leal couldn’t be reached for comment, but Police Chief John Koziol, who’s also a defendant, provided a brief statement on behalf of himself and the 13 officers named in the suit.

“We welcome the opportunity to have the full story come to light,” Koziol said. “And our officers acted within the law and within policy.”

Nelson was transported to Northwest Community Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, where he was treated for subdural hematoma and other bleeding in the brain. A fracture to his temporal bone extended to his ear cavity, the suit states.

Nelson sustained permanent partial hearing loss, short-term memory loss and other pain and suffering, resulting in time away from his business and lost wages, it states.

According to the suit, police used excessive, unreasonable force and also failed to provide medical care at the salon, where “Nelson’s state of intoxication required immediate evaluation.”

Despite his intoxication and short-term memory loss, Nelson’s attorney, Susan Marks of S.A.M. Law Office in Arlington Heights, said her client remembered more details of the case as his brain healed.

“Remembering more information as time goes by is typical with this injury,” Marks said. “He’s definitely sure this is what has transpired.”

The suit, which seeks damages for assault and battery, and payment for loss or injury, also names the village of Palatine as a defendant.