By Angela Rozas, Tribune staff reporter
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO, Ill. — A Chicago woman filed a civil suit Monday against two Cook County sheriff’s officers and two Chicago police officers alleging she was beaten last summer after crossing a street in front of a county squad car.
Dolores Robare, 52, a self-employed photographer, said she was walking across Ashland Avenue near Irving Park Road on Aug. 17 and was nearly struck by a car that she says sped up as she crossed the road.
The driver of the vehicle, whom the suit identifies as Cook County Sheriff’s Police Officer John Darge, but whom authorities say is a county sheriff’s deputy, stopped the vehicle and approached her, yelling, “I could have killed you!” she said.
She said the man took her identification, and as his partner, Margie Sullivan, checked her background, Robare approached to ask why it was taking so long. Then, Robare said that Darge yelled at her to back away from his partner, handcuffed her and tripped her, pushing her to the ground.
She said Darge repeatedly pushed her face into the ground, causing bruises and injuries to her skin. When Chicago police Officers Michael Muszynsky and Josephine Christopher arrived, Robare said Muszynsky hit, beat and kicked her. The suit claims that Sullivan and Christopher did not participate in the attack, but didn’t stop the other officers.
Robare said that she was taken to the hospital and held there for several hours but was not charged with any crime.
But Cook County sheriff’s office spokesman Bill Cunningham said according to an incident report, the sheriff’s officers, who were driving around serving subpoenas, saw Robare standing in the road acting erratically and pulled over to get her out of the street. He said the report indicated that Robare smelled of alcohol and refused to get out of the street, calling officers “Nazis” and “skinheads,” and attacked them. When Chicago police arrived, they attempted to handcuff her, but she had to be taken onto the ground to do so, he said the report indicated.
Both Cunningham and Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond said Robare did not file a formal complaint with their departments, but that they would investigate.
Robare’s attorney, Lawrence Jackowiak, said she tried to file a complaint on the telephone, but got no response.
Copyright 2007 Chicago Tribune Company