Plaintiff:
Kenneth Coffie
Incident date:
11/17/2011
Location:
3184 N. Clark St.
Allegations:
Coffie and his girlfriend were waiting for the Clark Street bus in the Lakeview neighborhood when they decided to walk into a coffee shop for Coffie's girlfriend to use the washroom. As he sat inside the shop waiting for his girlfriend, three white police officers approached him and handcuffed him without saying a word. Coffie asked the officers what he had done. “Shut the f**k up,” they replied. The officers dragged him out of the shop, telling him he did not know who he was dealing with. Coffie's girlfriend came out of the washroom in time to see the officers escorting him from the building. When she asked what was wrong, the officers threatened her with arrest. Coffie was slammed head first into the back seat of the squad car. His head ended up on the floor, between the two seats. He was bleeding from his face and having difficulty breathing, so he sat up. When the officers saw that he was sitting up, they purposely hit the gas pedal and then slammed on the brakes, causing Coffie's face to hit the squad car's steel window frame. At the police station, Coffie asked for medical attention. He was taken to the hospital and treated for his injuries. Initially, an officer at the station told Coffie he was being charged with trespassing because he had not bought anything at the coffee shop. Seven hours later, two detectives informed him they were charging him with two counts of assault to a police officer. Coffie was taken to Cook County Jail.