Federal authorities have charged a veteran Chicago Police officer for striking and injuring suspect under arrest, a violation of the suspect’s constitutional rights.
Officer Craig H. Swistowicz, 38, was charged with striking a man identified in a federal indictment as J.P. The incident took place in September 2007 when Swiztowicz was assigned to a federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force.
Swistowicz has been on the Chicago police force since 1997.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago told CBS 2 that Swiztowicz "willfully subjected an arrestee to unreasonable force by striking him in violation of his Fourth Amendment Rights."
If convicted Swistowicz can face 10 years of prison time and get charged a $250,000 fine.
Information has not been released about why the suspect was arrested or whether the suspect had ever been charged.
The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin took over the case’s prosecution after the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago removed itself because of Swistowicz’s assignment to the federal task force.
