Park Ridge man sues, claiming he was assaulted by Rosemont police
A Park Ridge man is suing the village of Rosemont and several of its police officers, claiming they attacked him at the police station in April 2009.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court on the anniversary of the attack, attorneys for plaintiff Andrew Krieger said.
The incident was caught by the police department's surveillance video cameras, one spanning the parking lot and another inside the station.
Around 6:15 a.m. April 26, 2009, 21-year-old Krieger was sitting in his brother's SUV in the Rosemont Police Department parking lot, waiting for his brother to return from bailing out a friend.
The lawsuit alleges Krieger was approached by Officer Ronald Perri, who tried to drag Krieger out of the passenger side of the vehicle.
The lawsuit says Perri called for help and within seconds other Rosemont police officers rushed to the parking lot. One officer, identified in the lawsuit as Officer Fiorito, allegedly jolted Krieger in the chest with a Taser.
The parking lot camera was rotating back and forth and picked up some of the incident, said Amanda Antholt, one of Krieger's attorneys with Chicago law firm Smith, Johnson & Antholt LLC.
"What you see (on the video) is the officer standing outside of the car, and within a few seconds, the next time the camera spans around you see Andrew on the ground being handcuffed," she said.
Krieger was treated by paramedics inside the police station, attorneys say.
He was then handcuffed to a bench when a surveillance camera captures an unidentified police officer jamming his forearm into Krieger's throat, choking and lifting him up against the wall.
The officer had been told Krieger was there for battery to a police officer, and said to Krieger, "you think you are tough ... let's go," attorneys said.
"This may not be the most brutal use of force ever but it's clearly one of the most unnecessary uses of force," said Christopher Smith, also representing Krieger. "It is a criminal battery for anyone to attack a young man, sitting handcuffed on a bench, especially an armed police officer."
Rosemont Police Chief Donald E. Stephens III said Monday he was unaware of the lawsuit or the incident with Krieger, but that he would look into the matter before commenting.
Rosemont village officials and village attorney could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.
Though Krieger was initially charged by Rosemont police with resisting a peace officer and battery, the charges were dropped on Nov. 17 after Krieger's criminal defense attorney obtained and showed the surveillance video to prosecutors, Antholt said.
Krieger didn't pursue criminal charges against Rosemont police because he had to defend himself, Smith said.
"The state's attorney was pressing charges against him," Smith said. "They are not going to turn around and (charge the officers).
"This isn't the kind of case the U.S. attorney is going to be interested in. This is the remedy that's available to (Krieger) that's in his control."
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