A Park Ridge man is claiming police brutality after he said he was dragged out of a car and jolted with a Taser for no reason last year by a Rosemont officer.
In a federal suit filed Monday, 21-year-old Andrew Krieger claims he was in the passenger seat of his brother's SUV in the parking lot of the police department on April 26, 2009 while his brother was inside posting bail for a friend.
He says Rosemont police Officer Ronald A. Perri approached, attempted to open the locked door and demanded Krieger exit the vehicle. Krieger says he opened the door, but remained seated and asked the officer why he was being asked to get out.
Krieger ultimately did get out of the SUV, and that's when another officer came up and fired a Taser into his chest as he stood next to the vehicle with his hands in the air, explained Krieger's attorney, Christopher Smith.
A roving security camera captured portions of the incident. As the camer oscillates, the men can be seen standing around the SUV. When the camera returns, Krieger is seen laying on the ground.
Krieger argues the abuse of power continued once he was inside the police station. As he sat handcuffed to a bench after being treated by paramedics, another security camera records officers around him and talking to him.
He claims that when officers learned he was being held for alleged battery to an officer, one of them approached and jammed his forearm into his throat -- choking and lifting him up against the wall.
"He literally attacks him by grabbing him by the neck and almost picking him up off the bench," Smith said. "It would be a criminal battery for anyone to attack somebody sitting on a bench, handcuffed. And it makes it even worse when that person is an armed officer."
The eight-count suit claims, among other things, excessive force, assault, battery and false arrest. It seeks compensatory and punitive damages from the Village of Rosemont, Officer Perri, Officer Fiorito and other unidentified officers, plus the cost of the suit.
Krieger was charged with resisting a peace officer and battery, but all charges were dropped, Smith said, adding that the officers intentionally inflicted physical and emotional harm.
"If it wasn't for this video, it probably would have been something that no one admitted to, no one would have believed," Smith said.
A spokesperson for the Rosemont Police Department was unavailable for comment Monday night.
