Dismissed lawsuit against former Schaumburg cop refiled
A dismissed federal lawsuit alleging malicious prosecution by a former Schaumburg police officer in prison for corruption has been refiled in Cook County circuit court.
The suit, filed by Danielle Williams against former undercover officer Terrance O'Brien and the village of Schaumburg, accuses O'Brien of falsely claiming to have found drugs in the plaintiff's jacket during a February 2009 search of her Bloomingdale apartment.
The lawsuit also alleges O'Brien falsely claimed that Williams confessed to selling drugs.
O'Brien is one of three former Schaumburg officers arrested in January 2013 on multiple drug conspiracy charges.
The refiled lawsuit is one of 16 that have been filed against some combination of O'Brien and fellow former officers Matthew Hudak and John Cichy, each alleging some combination of false arrest, illegal search or malicious prosecution.
Schaumburg has settled nine of the lawsuits without any admission of wrongdoing on the part of any past or present employee, and a 10th was dismissed. The rest are pending.
Schaumburg's attorney, Jim Sotos, said Williams' first suit was dismissed in U.S. District Court on the basis that its federal claims were untimely. The revised suit retains only the state complaint of malicious prosecution.
Neither Williams nor her attorneys could be reached for comment Tuesday.
Sotos said there is nothing that particularly distinguishes Williams' suit from the others.
He added that while he considers most of the suits defensible, the village has settled nine so far because the costs were a fraction of what would have been paid to fully litigate in court.
O'Brien and Hudak have pleaded guilty to felony charges and are serving prison sentences, while Cichy is awaiting a trial now scheduled for November.
There are six lawsuits against the former officers that are still active, and Sotos has filed motions to dismiss two of them.