Second suit filed over Arlington Heights gun seizure

An Arlington Heights man sued three village police officers in federal court Tuesday over his 2012 dispute with the police department over the search of his home and seizure of his guns.

It is the second suit resident Arthur Lovi has filed as a result of the dispute, which started in August 2012 after he made what were interpreted as threatening comments during a session with a therapist.

Police officers sent to his home searched the residence without a warrant and removed his three antique weapons, none of which was loaded, Lovi’s suit claims. A police report filed at the time said Lovi invited officers into his home and willingly handed over his weapons.

Lovi said his weapons were not returned to him until he hired a lawyer. The first suit, filed in January, claims that his Second and Fourth Amendment rights were violated.

The day after Lovi’s weapons were taken, more Arlington Heights police officers came to his home and, according to his suit, tried to have him committed for mental health reasons. Lovi was taken by ambulance to Northwest Community Hospital and released that day with a note from doctors stating he was not a danger.

According to Lovi’s new suit, he was forced to get in the ambulance, but according to the police report filed that day, he went willingly.

While the first suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in January, named the four police officers who came to his home and removed his weapons, the second names the officers who came to his house the next day, said Lovi attorney Louis Meyer.

Meyer said the first suit appears to be headed toward a trial, rather than a settlement.

“Both sides clearly see the case differently,” Meyer said.

Police previously have declined to comment on the pending litigation.

That case will next be in front of a judge in Chicago on Oct. 1.