Plaintiff:
Estella Walker
Incident date:
03/02/2011
Location:
1021 W. 61st St.
Allegations:
Ray Robinson, his son Ray Robinson Jr. and a friend, Graham, were all at Robinson and Walker's first-floor apartment in the Englewood neighborhood. That same day, officers had obtained a warrant to search for an individual named “Mike,” a 30-year-old black male who was 6 feet tall and weighed 230 pounds. The warrant was for the first-floor apartment where Robison and Walker lived. Walker had recently rented the apartment from Burns, the building owner, who lived on the second floor. The first-floor unit had been vacant for approximately one year. Walker and Robinson were over the age of 50, their son Ray Robinson Jr. was 24, and Graham was 39. Robinson, his son and Graham were watching television when seven or eight officers in plainclothes and one in uniform crashed through two hall doors with a slam bar. With their guns drawn, the officers yelled at everyone to get on the ground. They struck Ray Robinson, his son and Graham several times. The officers never asked for any identification and handcuffed all three men, repeatedly yelling, “Where are the drugs?” The junior Robinson was slapped and strip-searched, while another officer stomped on Graham's head and right wrist while he was handcuffed and on the floor. Officers repeatedly demanded to see “the gun” they believed to be in the apartment. The apartment was left in disarray: the television thrown off its stand, the washer and air conditioner broken, photographs torn up and various items gone. Finding no guns or drugs, the officers broke into the second-floor apartment and damaged it in a similar manner while Burns was away. When he finally arrived, the police were gone. The officers did not charge anyone in either residence.