Plaintiff:
Marshawn Brewer
Incident date:
04/01/2008
Location:
3420 W. 63rd St.
Allegations:
In 2008, Brewer left his home in Michigan to visit a Chicago police station, where his younger brother had been taken after being arrested in a sting operation targeting drug sales. Brewer had heard that officers had beaten his brother while arresting him, and Brewer wanted to learn more. After questioning the officers at the station, an officer told Brewer he needed to leave and threatened him with arrest. Brewer left and began to drive away when officers followed him and pulled over his vehicle. The officers ran a name check on him, which revealed no warrants, and they let him go. Several days later, Brewer was back in Michigan when a relative told him his photo was on the TV news as well as the internet, and that police claimed that Brewer was part of the drug-selling ring they were investigating. Eight months later, Brewer was visiting relatives in Oak Lawn when Oak Lawn police officers arrested him on a warrant for his alleged involvement in the drug conspiracy the Chicago police officers were investigating. At his bond hearing, Brewer was charged with four deliveries of narcotics to undercover officers and with being part of a drug conspiracy. Brewer could not afford to post his bail, and he remained in custody at the Cook County Jail for nine months. The trial judge dismissed the charges against Brewer, finding that the officers had incorrectly identified him.