On dutyExcessive forceSexual harassment/abuseFalse arrest or reportPhysical forceAssault or battery to an officer chargesHospitalized
Plaintiff:
Robin Petrovic
Incident date:
07/24/2005
Location:
728 W. Grand Ave.
Allegations:
Petrovic, a lecturer at a university, requested someone call the police after she was assaulted. When the officers arrived, they asked Petrovic to sign a blank criminal complaint against her assailant. Not wanting to sign a blank complaint, Petrovic asked the officers if either she or they could fill out the narrative portion of the complaint. The officers refused, and Petrovic asked for their names and badge numbers. Some of the officers provided the information; others did not. Because Petrovic didn't have a pen and paper, she borrowed a passerby's cell phone to call her own phone and leave a message with the information. As she was leaving the message, the officers struck her on the head, threw her against a car and on the ground, hit her and choked her. She was handcuffed and put in a police vehicle, where Officer Chevas threw her onto the ground of the vehicle face first. He began kicking and hitting Petrovic in the head and between her legs, calling her a “cunt.” The officers took Petrovic to a police station, refusing Petrovic's request to go to a hospital for 10 hours. Petrovic was charged with battery, but the charge was later dismissed. As a result of the incident, Petrovic's eyes were swollen and black, and her body was covered in bruises.