Naperville confirms settlement in Furstenau civil rights suit

Naperville City Councilman Richard Furstenau is dropping what's left of his federal civil rights lawsuit, officials confirmed Monday.

Members of the city council voted unanimously Monday to have its staff draft a resolution in support of the pact that calls for Furstenau to drop the suit if those he sued agree not to try to recoup an estimated $1 million in legal fees.

The Daily Herald first reported on the agreement in its Sunday editions.

Furstenau abstained from Monday's vote. The council is expected to vote on the issue at an April 8 meeting.

Furstenau opted to drop the suit after a third straight pretrial loss.

Furstenau sued the city after a Jan. 18, 2006 battery arrest in which a local police officer, Mike Hull, accused the council member of shoving him during a parade celebrating the city's 175th anniversary.

Furstenau was acquitted of the misdemeanor, but city officials refused his demand that the police officers involved in his arrest apologize and be disciplined.

Furstenau also was unsuccessful in convincing the city to pay him nearly $130,000 for attorney fees and toward his failed Illinois Senate campaign, which he said was derailed by his arrest.

Afterward, on Oct. 31, 2007, Furstenau filed a federal lawsuit against the city and three police officers - Hull, Chief David Dial and Detective Mike Cross - alleging the arrest was in retaliation for Furstenau's scrutinizing of police spending.

Furstenau later added former City Manager Peter Burchard, police union President Joe Matchett and city attorney Margo Ely to the suit for their critical statements of the councilman's behavior since his 1999 election.

But, more than two years later, after recent court rulings in which all but Dial, Hull and Cross were dismissed and a judge ordered Furstenau to undergo a mental exam, he has agreed to end the legal saga without a trial.