Prosecutor: Des Plaines woman struck Palatine officers

Prosecutors minced no words as the trial of a Des Plaines woman charged with striking and scratching two Palatine police officers began in Rolling Meadows.

“This case begins with an expired registration sticker and it ends with a defendant totally out of control,” said Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Crowe during opening statements Tuesday afternoon.

Crowe was referring to Carmelita Ceja, 34, who prosecutors say was stopped for a traffic violation on Oct. 20, 2010 in a parking lot at Rand Road and Evergreen Drive.

The officer noticed that Ceja’s eyes were bloodshot, her speech was slurred and she failed field sobriety tests, Crowe said. Responding to the officer’s request for her license, she said she’d lost it and instead produced a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card, Crowe said. Asked by the officer if she’d had anything to drink, she replied that she’d had three Jack Daniels, adding “all I drink is Jack, sweetheart,” Crowe said.

At the police department, Ceja — who was seated at a table and not restrained — became disruptive, refused to answer questions, banged her fists on a table and shouted obscenities, Crowe said.

“The police never escalated,” Crowe said. “They never tased or used a weapon on the defendant ... they just persevered.”

Crowe said when a sergeant tried to intervene, Ceja pushed him and when the arresting officer tried to intervene, she leaned back on the table, raised her feet and kicked him in the chest and scratched his face, drawing blood.

Defense attorney Constantine Vass Vassilakopoulous refuted prosecutors’ version of events.

“Just like a coin has two sides, this story has two sides. I ask you to keep an open mind,” said Vassilakopoulous, who reminded the jury that being charged with a crime doesn’t make his client guilty.

Ceja complied with every request the officer made, Vassilakopoulous said. She exited her car and performed the field sobriety tests, which took place on an uneven surface, on a cold and rainy night, while the defendant was wearing high-heel boots, Vassilakopoulous said.

Ushered into the basement of the police department, she was surrounded by officers and as a result, “feared for her safety so much that she acted in self-defense,” Vassilakopoulous said.

A check of the court clerk’s records show Ceja pleaded guilty to the charges in February 2011 and was sentenced to 30 months probation. The clerk’s records indicated the defense moved to vacate the plea in April 2011, a motion Cook County Judge Thomas Fecarotta granted. Testimony resumes at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.