A former student of the College of DuPage filed a lawsuit against the institution, alleging that a pair of campus officers used excessive force when arresting her.
Jaclyn Pazera said the incident started when one officer saw her smoking outside and gave her a warning. The lawsuit claims he followed her inside then arrested her for trespassing, even after she showed him her school identification.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Pazera said by phone. “I had a cigarette at school which is a violation of a school policy, not a law.
“She was pretty horrified that this was occurring and you can see in the video her experience of being manhandled,” her lawyer, Blake Horwitz, said.
Some of the altercation between Pazera and two College of DuPage police officers that lasted several minutes was caught on video.
Pazera said that she was full of fear as the incident transpired.
“I was scared. I didn’t know what was really happening because I didn’t do anything wrong and I was being treated that way,” Pazera said.
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Horwitz is suing the school and the two officers on her behalf Wednesday, accusing police of using excessive force and violating Pazera's constitutional rights.
Horwitz, who has worked on more than 400 cases of police misconduct, said the next several minutes in that ethics class were captured on a teacher's cellphone. Pazera said she was only trying to follow the officers' orders.
The lawsuit also says the officers falsified their police reports and made a student delete another video that was taken of the incident. Horwitz says two misdemeanor charges against Pazera were dropped in October.
When asked for comment, the College of DuPage sent us this statement: "The College of DuPage just learned of, but has not yet reviewed, the lawsuit that was filed today. Student safety is of utmost importance to us. Of course, we will investigate to determine the facts and take appropriate action.”
