WMAQ-TV News-Chicago
Two Evanston, Ill. police officers pleaded not guilty Tuesday to an indictment charging them with various crimes following the alleged beating and false prosecution of a 22-year-old man after a traffic stop in March.
The officers, Gus Horemis and Michael Yorty, were arraigned before Criminal Court Judge John Moran, according to John Gorman, press secretary for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. He could not provide ages for the officers.
Horemis, 42, was charged with felonies of obstruction of justice and official misconduct and misdemeanor battery, Gorman said.
Yorty, 27, was charged in the indictment with three felonies, official misconduct, obstruction of justice and perjury, Gorman said.
The indictment was made public Tuesday.
Moran released both officers on $100,000 personal recognizance bonds, and they must surrender all their firearms, Gorman said. NBC5’s Kim Vatis reported that the two officers have been on unpaid leave since the investigation.
Gorman did not give further details.
In a federal lawsuit filed earlier this month against the City of Evanston and five Evanston Police officers, including Horemis and Yorty, Sayyid Qadri, 22, alleged that Horemis beat him in a washroom stall, the only location in the police station not monitored by video cameras.
But the cameras recorded Qadri being shoved into the stall and later emerging with blood on his face from an injury requiring six stitches, according to the suit. The cameras also recorded the officers shoving Qadri against a washroom wall, the suit said.
At about 11 p.m. March 10, Horemis pulled Qadri over after he turned right onto Ridge Avenue in the north suburb, the suit said.
During the traffic stop, Horemis learned that Qadri’s driver’s license had expired and the officer arrested him, according to the suit. Qadri contended that he did not resist arrest.
At the police station, Qadri said, he repeatedly asked that he be cited so he could leave. Horemis grabbed him and took him to the washroom, the suit claimed. Yorty and an unknown officer followed.
Horemis shoved Qadri, whose hands were handcuffed behind his back, into the stall and choked him with both hands while Yorty and the unknown officer watched, the suit alleged. Horemis also was accused of lifting Qadri up by his neck.
Yorty then entered the stall and held Qadri’s arms while Horemis slammed the plaintiff’s face against the wall, causing a bloody gash near the man’s left eye, the suit alleged. In addition, Qadri’s leg and knee allegedly were pushed into the plumbing fixtures in the stall.
During the beating, another officer entered the washroom and stood watch with the unidentified officer, the suit said.
Horemis pulled the plaintiff from the stall, sat him on a bench in the washroom and threw him against the wall, the suit alleged. Horemis and Yorty took turns shoving Qadri into the wall, and Horemis again began choking the plaintiff, the suit claimed.
The two unidentified officers in the washroom failed to stop the beating, the suit continued. A third unidentified officer entered and also took no action against his fellow officers, the suit stated.
Later, an ambulance took Qadri to Evanston Hospital, where the plaintiff received six stitches to close the gash by his eye, according to the suit.
Yorty and Horemis took Qadri back to the police station. During the drive, the two officers discussed what lies to tell about the beating to make it sound as if the plaintiff had provoked the officers into using force, the suit alleged.
In addition, Horemis, Yorty and two of the unidentified officers filed false charges against Qadri such as resisting arrest, aggravated battery and criminal damage to property, the washroom stall, the suit claimed.
Although the state’s attorney’s office agreed to file charges against Qadri, the charges were dropped after prosecutors saw the security camera videos, the suit continued.
The suit accuses the defendants of excessive force, unlawful seizure, conspiracy to deprive the plaintiff of his constitutional rights, assault and battery, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, civil conspiracy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The suit seeks an unstated amount in punitive and compensatory damages, as well as attorney fees.
No court date has been set for the suit yet.