GRETCHEN SCHULDT of the Journal Sentinel staff
January 17, 2001 Wednesday Final Edition
Copyright 2001 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
January 17, 2001 Wednesday Final Edition
(MILWAUKEE, Ill.) -- Three police officers clad in black “Ninja costumes” who chased a 14-year-old boy who said he thought they were robbers did not have probable cause for his subsequent arrest, a jury decided Tuesday.
The jury awarded Jeffrey O’Neal Marshall, now 18, $130,000 in compensatory and punitive damages after finding that officers Daniel Teske, Alfonso Morales and David Kolatski acted “with malice or reckless indifference” to Marshall’s rights.
The jury also found, however, that the three did not use excessive force when making the arrest.
Marshall said in his 1998 lawsuit that he did not know the three were officers until after he ran for help to uniformed police in a marked squad car.
The jury awarded Marshall $30,000 in compensatory damages. It also assessed $15,000 in punitive damages against Morales; $25,000 against Teske; and $60,000 against Kolatski.
“I say they deserved it,” Marshall said after the verdict.
His lawyer, Paul Gossens, said he was impressed with the way the jury differentiated between the levels of involvement of the three officers.
Assistant City Attorney Susan E. Lappen said the city would review the verdict for possible appeal issues. U.S. District Judge Thomas J. Curran delayed entering judgment on the verdict to give the city time to file further motions.
Marshall said in his lawsuit that he was walking with a friend on a sidewalk in the area of N. 91st St. and W. Birch Ave. in September 1997 when several adults, “all dressed in black Ninja costumes,” came running at him from behind an apartment building.
The adults included the three officers.
Marshall, thinking he would be robbed or shot, ran east on Birch. Two of the men chased after him. Only one of the men was masked, but both had guns, according to the suit.
Marshall saw a marked squad car and ran for help, telling the uniformed officers he was being chased by robbers who had masks and guns.
The uniformed officers drew their guns and ordered the “Ninja” crew to stop, according to the suit. The Ninja officers then identified themselves as narcotics officers.
The officers who chased Marshall ordered him arrested, according to court documents. They ordered him to lie on the ground, where he was kneed in the back of his head, the suit says.
Marshall was taken to police headquarters, booked and put in an adult lockup. He was released almost nine hours later when he was given a juvenile citation for “obstructing an officer.”
The citation later was dismissed.
The city said in court documents that the officers who chased Marshall thought he might be involved in activity at a drug house. He was taken into custody “for such time as to allow them to investigate,” the city said.
In a separate, unrelated matter, Kolatski and Morales have alleged in a federal lawsuit filed last year that they were demoted for investigating the brother of Deputy Police Chief Monica Ray on suspicion of drug dealing.
That suit also alleges that Ray ordered officers not to mention her name in police reports about her brother, who was later sent to prison for possessing heroin.
That case is pending.