Decision on dismissing charges in Allendale death pushed back to February
A Lake County judge has delayed a decision whether to dismiss charges against a Wisconsin man accused of lying to authorities when he was being questioned about the death of a Chicago teen at a Lake Villa facility for children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral disabilities.
A hearing to dismiss the charges against Justin Serak, 27, of Grafton, began Wednesday afternoon but was halted and continued until Feb. 3 by Judge Daniel Shanes. The crux of the hearing is surrounding Serak's police interview video, which must be watched in its entirety in court.
Officials said the video is about 7 hours long, but attorneys did not know the exact length of the police interview video taken at the Round Lake Beach police department between 2 a.m. and 10 a.m. on March 31.
The dismissal hearing was scheduled after defense attorney Robert Ritacca filed a motion to dismiss charges of obstruction of justice and a motion to suppress statements Serak made to police on the video after the death of 16-year-old Shaquan Allen of Chicago at the Allendale Association campus in March.
To be charged with obstruction of justice, Ritacca said, a person must make a false statement for the purpose of avoiding criminal charges. Ritacca said in a court document that Serak told investigators the truth after police revealed they were conducting a death investigation.
Allen died at Advocate Condell Medical Center at 11:10 p.m. March 30 after he had been restrained with an illegal chokehold during a confrontation with Serak and James Davis, 37, of Round Lake, authorities said. Both were Allendale employees.
Authorities say the men were trying to get Allen back into his room after a behavioral episode about 9:30 p.m. Serak grabbed the teen's legs while Davis grabbed his upper body and applied a chokehold, authorities say.
Lake Villa police and rescue were called to Allendale at 9:58 p.m. for a reported injury. Officials said 15 minutes passed between the time Allen became unconscious and 911 was called by the Allendale staff.
Davis and Serak initially told investigators Allen slipped on water on the floor, but multiple witnesses contradicted their statements, officials said.
Davis is charged with involuntary manslaughter and obstruction of justice, and Serak was charged with two felony counts of obstruction of justice for lying to police, authorities said.
Serak is free from Lake County jail after posting 10 percent of his $50,000 bail. Davis remains in the jail on $500,000 bail.
Prior to the Serak hearing, Allendale attorneys Joseph Waldeck and Stephen Simonian turned over about 700 documents to Shanes, who will review the documents before distributing them to other attorneys involved in the cases.