By Rummana Hussain
Chicago Sun-Times
CHICAGO — A former CTA bus driver was acquitted Tuesday on charges that he lied about being beaten up by an off-duty Chicago Police sergeant.
But although 43-year-old Ricardo Mendoza was cleared of disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice, Cook County Judge James Linn lambasted him and called him “selfish and greedy” for filing a federal lawsuit against the city.
“None of this needs to be in court,” Linn said, referencing Mendoza’s criminal case and apparently the $1 million he was seeking in his pending civil suit tied to the Sept. 12, 2009, incident.
Linn made it clear he didn’t believe Sgt. Thomas O’Grady necessarily roughed up Mendoza after he boarded Mendoza’s bus at Monroe and State. Linn Tuesday said it appeared as if the events blew out of proportion as “egos flared” as supervisors became involved.
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