Suit says cops savaged gay man - Arrest at bar turned violent, he alleges
Suit says cops savaged gay man - Arrest at bar turned violent, he alleges
By Michael Higgins
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
Published June 15, 2007
A Chicago man alleged Thursday in a lawsuit that two police officers viciously beat him last year while hurling anti-gay slurs, then left him in a holding cell for two days without food or water.
Attorneys for Alexander Ruppert, 37, said the beating took place in March 2006 after authorities say the officers responded to call that he was causing a disturbance at a bar, the suit says.
Ruppert later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct stemming from the altercation inside the bar, but he contended in the suit that he did not provoke the officers and that he was beaten because he is gay.
While in the police lockup for the two days, Ruppert resorted to drinking water from the toilet to quench his thirst, according to the suit filed in federal court in Chicago.
"This was a hate crime disguised as policework," Jon Erickson, an attorney for Ruppert, said Thursday at a news conference near Lawrence Avenue and Broadway, where Ruppert says the incident took place. The lawsuit against the city and the two officers seeks unspecified damages for excessive force, battery, unlawful seizure and malicious prosecution.
Ruppert was not at the news conference for health reasons, Erickson said.
Ruppert initially was charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and two counts of aggravated battery to a police officer.
Last month he pleaded guilty to the one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct, and prosecutors dropped the other charges, said Tandra Simonton, a spokeswoman for Cook County State's Atty. Richard Devine.
Prosecutors dropped the felony charges because the police officers did not want to testify about the incident in court, Simonton said. She didn't know why the officers wouldn't testify.
Police officials would not comment about the case, citing the pending lawsuit.
City officials had not reviewed the suit and also declined to comment.
The incident began when police responded to a call that Ruppert was creating a disturbance at the Uptown Lounge, Simonton said. Simonton said she didn't have details about the nature of the altercation inside the bar. Ruppert's lawyers declined to discuss whether Ruppert was intoxicated.
According to Ruppert's lawsuit, two officers asked him to leave the bar and put him in the back of a squad car but didn't handcuff him or arrest him. The officers have not been charged with a crime.
They made "vulgar comments referring to his sexual orientation" and after driving him a block away from club, hit him in his face and on his head while calling him names, according to the lawsuit.
Simonton said that according to the initial charges, Ruppert was "injured during the transport to the police station," but she had no further details.
----------
mjhiggins@tribune.com
By Michael Higgins
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
Published June 15, 2007
A Chicago man alleged Thursday in a lawsuit that two police officers viciously beat him last year while hurling anti-gay slurs, then left him in a holding cell for two days without food or water.
Attorneys for Alexander Ruppert, 37, said the beating took place in March 2006 after authorities say the officers responded to call that he was causing a disturbance at a bar, the suit says.
Ruppert later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct stemming from the altercation inside the bar, but he contended in the suit that he did not provoke the officers and that he was beaten because he is gay.
While in the police lockup for the two days, Ruppert resorted to drinking water from the toilet to quench his thirst, according to the suit filed in federal court in Chicago.
"This was a hate crime disguised as policework," Jon Erickson, an attorney for Ruppert, said Thursday at a news conference near Lawrence Avenue and Broadway, where Ruppert says the incident took place. The lawsuit against the city and the two officers seeks unspecified damages for excessive force, battery, unlawful seizure and malicious prosecution.
Ruppert was not at the news conference for health reasons, Erickson said.
Ruppert initially was charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and two counts of aggravated battery to a police officer.
Last month he pleaded guilty to the one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct, and prosecutors dropped the other charges, said Tandra Simonton, a spokeswoman for Cook County State's Atty. Richard Devine.
Prosecutors dropped the felony charges because the police officers did not want to testify about the incident in court, Simonton said. She didn't know why the officers wouldn't testify.
Police officials would not comment about the case, citing the pending lawsuit.
City officials had not reviewed the suit and also declined to comment.
The incident began when police responded to a call that Ruppert was creating a disturbance at the Uptown Lounge, Simonton said. Simonton said she didn't have details about the nature of the altercation inside the bar. Ruppert's lawyers declined to discuss whether Ruppert was intoxicated.
According to Ruppert's lawsuit, two officers asked him to leave the bar and put him in the back of a squad car but didn't handcuff him or arrest him. The officers have not been charged with a crime.
They made "vulgar comments referring to his sexual orientation" and after driving him a block away from club, hit him in his face and on his head while calling him names, according to the lawsuit.
Simonton said that according to the initial charges, Ruppert was "injured during the transport to the police station," but she had no further details.
----------
mjhiggins@tribune.com
posted by Carlos T Mock at 7:56 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home