Plaintiff:
Michelle Echols
Incident date:
07/12/2009
Location:
656 N. Homan Ave.
Allegations:
Echols was sitting in her father's van in the 600 block of North Homan Avenue, talking with a group of male relatives and friends who were standing on the street, when Officers Jankowski and Lange drove up and ordered the group to stand against the wall of a building. Echols tried to tell the officers that she knew the men, but Jankowski told her shut up. Echols tried again to tell them that she and one of the men, her nephew, were both security guards and that no one was doing anything wrong. Jankowski again told her to shut up, added “you ain't s--t,” grabbed her arm, pulled her out of the van and roughly handcuffed her. Jankowski then searched Echols' pocket and threw her belongings--keys, wallet and license--onto the ground. Officer Lange watched the incident but did nothing to stop Jankowski. Echols was taken to Sacred Heart Hospital for medical treatment, and she was held overnight at a police station. The officers filed false reports and charged Echols with impersonating a police officer. The charges were later dismissed.