Federal suit also claims intimidation
By David Heinzmann, Tribune staff reporter; Tribune staff reporter Angela Rozas contributed to this report
The Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — Six Chicago police officers had been drinking and at least one of them was carrying a gun when they allegedly attacked four men in a downtown bar last December, according to a federal lawsuit the victims of the beating filed Tuesday.
The four businessmen also claim that the Office of Professional Standards did not immediately contact prosecutors with the allegations of the Dec. 15 beating at the Jefferson Tap & Grille, a claim the Police Department denies.
Most of the incident was captured on multiple security cameras inside and outside the bar in the 300 block of North Jefferson Street. Although the video has not been seen publicly, its existence has fed the firestorm of criticism facing the Police Department since another video showing off-duty officer Anthony Abbate beating and kicking a female bartender emerged in March.
The scandal over the two videotaped incidents led to the early resignation of Supt. Philip Cline, and prompted Mayor Richard Daley last week to announce that he will separate OPS from the Police Department because of criticism that the agency was protecting officers instead of aggressively investigating brutality allegations against them.
The OPS’ role in the Jefferson Tap case has been under more scrutiny, however, because three months elapsed with no action against the officers. Cline removed them from the street in late March when the Tribune inquired about the case and reported that prosecutors were investigating the December incident.
Sally Saltzberg, the lawyer for the men, has accused OPS of taking no action against the cops, even though the video and basic facts of the incident were known within days. The accused officers were allowed to keep working the street for three months.
The suit also details alleged intimidation tactics by police. An officer went to the home of the sister of one of the victims late one night in the days after the incident and banged on her door “for 30 minutes,” the suit alleges.
The victims had not provided the sister’s name or address to OPS, the lawsuit alleges. Fearful, the woman did not let the officer in, according to Saltzberg.
The suit alleges that one of the officers involved in the beating was Paul Powers, whose late father, William Powers, was a commander in the department and a longtime friend of Cline. The elder Powers died in September, and law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation and the security video said that his son was distraught and emotional that night at the bar and appeared to be comforted by the other officers before the beating began.
Saltzberg, who has viewed the video, said one of the officers can be seen taking Powers’ gun away while comforting him.
A week before he resigned, Cline acknowledged that he should have intervened sooner to strip the involved officers of their badges and guns.
Cline has described the incident as a “bar fight,” but the plaintiffs, brothers Aaron and Barry Gilfand, Scott Lowrance and Adam Mastrucci, insist they were attacked without provocation while they were playing billiards at about 2 a.m., just after last call.
Police officials and city officials said they could not comment on the allegations about the officers or OPS.
“The matter remains under investigation, and we can’t comment on pending litigation,” police spokeswoman Monique Bond said.
While the internal investigation has focused on the conduct of the six officers involved in striking the businessmen, the complaint also names 10 other officers as defendants. At two different times during the incident, on-duty officers responded to 911 calls but left the scene without intervening after a sergeant involved in the beating spoke to them in the street.
Cline has acknowledged that the video images of the beating show a sergeant walking up to the responding officers in the street, speaking to them and then watching them get back in their cars and drive off.
The incident ignited trouble for the Police Department immediately, as one of the victims, Aaron Gilfand, was taken to the emergency room at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. OPS was contacted later that day, and the men hired a lawyer.
Under pressure over OPS’ performance in the bar-beating cases, Daley announced last week that he was overhauling the office, which is charged with investigating complaints of excessive force, as well as officer-involved shootings. The mayor said he plans to introduce an ordinance this month that would remove OPS from the Police Department and make the office an independent city department.
While critics of the police have welcomed the announcement of change at OPS, they said Tuesday they were troubled that Daley appears to be moving forward with a plan before announcing specific reforms.
“Why is the mayor rushing to judgment?” said Locke Bowman, director of the MacArthur Justice Center at Northwestern University Law School. Bowman and other lawyers urged Daley to give oversight of the new OPS to the City Council.
“Where there are 50 people looking at an issue ... there is a better opportunity for meaningful reform,” Bowman said.