Plaintiff:
Derrick Terrell Robinson, Sr.
Incident date:
03/19/2009
Location:
3732 W. Chicago Ave.
Allegations:
Robinson was at the corner of West Chicago and North Ridgeway avenues to wait for a bus when he was tackled from behind by Officer Beckman. Robinson was not aware that Beckman was a police officer and had initially attempted to evade him. Once on the ground, Officer Beckman continued to hit and kick Robinson using his hands, feet and knee. Officer Beckman also used a walkie-talkie or handcuffs to strike Robinson while he attempted to block the blows by covering his head and face. Additional officers arrived at the scene, including Officer Gallagher, who lifted Robinson off the ground as he and Officer Beckman struck him again. Robinson was handcuffed, patted-down and dragged to one of the police cars. As he was being dragged, Beckman and Gallagher, along with another officer, continued to strike him. He was placed in the back seat of a police car and transported to a police station. At no point did any of the officers present provide him with medical attention. At the police station, he was handcuffed to the wall of a holding room when Gallagher entered, complaining that Robinson had hit his partner Beckman. In retaliation, Gallagher punched Robinson in the left side of his face. Officer Gallagher then uncuffed Robinson and ordered him to strip out of his clothes. Officer Sznura and another officer then searched through them and one of them announced that they had found drugs in his clothes. Then Officer Beckman entered the room, uncuffed Robinson, flipped him over onto the floor, and slammed his head into a bench. Officer Snura was present during this and failed to intervene.