Plaintiff:
Cedric N. Pierce
Incident date:
04/15/2012
Location:
3537 W. Roosevelt Rd.
Allegations:
Pierce was on his moped, which was parked at the corner of Central Park Avenue and Roosevelt Road, when two officers drove up, asked to see his license and insurance and ordered him to shut off the moped. Pierce complied. The officers asked him if he had anything in his pockets that he should not have and then searched him -- even though they had no reason to believe he was carrying anything illegal. The officers found nothing illegal on Pierce; still, they handcuffed him, put him in their squad car and searched the moped. No weapons, drugs or other contraband were found. The officers took Pierce to a police station, where he was denied an opportunity to call to have his moped retrieved. Officer Appel completed a report stating that the moped would be impounded while Pierce was held at the police station awaiting questioning by a detective. Witnesses later told Pierce's girlfriend that two officers had pushed the moped into an alley. Family members found the moped completely destroyed with a tow number attached, indicating that it would be picked up and sold as scrap metal. Pierce was never compensated for his damaged property.