NBC 5 News learned Tuesday night that Metra has agreed to pay a quarter million dollars to a man beaten, pepper-sprayed and assaulted by Metra police officers. The attack was all caught on video.
Down on his luck D'nardo Mack was sitting in a Metra station seemingly minding his own business when Metra police officer David Robertson confronted him.
Video of the incident was recorded on that officer's own cell phone after the fact while he and his fellow officers watched a replay of it in their office, reacting as if it were entertainment.
Marty Gould is Mack's attorney who just negotiated a $250,000 dollar settlement with Metra.
"And you got officers laughing saying now we know how you hurt yourself you were swinging too hard," Gould said. "That's the biggest problem with this case.There were numerous officers present and nobody said anything."
Gould says the other problem is that Metra routinely records over its security video after 30 days. If there hadn't been cell phone video of the security video, it might have been only the police officer's word against a broken man.
Metra now says "every officer who can be seen or heard on that video has been terminated for this or other issues, has left Metra or has been disciplined. Only one remains on the force."
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Metra has also changed some video policies and will soon equip every officer with a body camera.
Robertson has since been criminally charged.
