Plaintiff:
Joseph Sperling
Incident date:
06/06/2013
Location:
1401 Tall Tree Rd.
Allegations:
Sperling was leaving his parents' home, where he lived at the time, in north suburban Glenview, when officers from the Chicago and Glenview police departments pulled him over. Unbeknownst to Sperling, he'd been under surveillance by the Chicago Police Department for suspected drug activities. During the traffic stop, officers told Sperling he'd failed to use a turn signal, which was a false pretext for the stop. Pruente, a Chicago police officer, and a Glenview officer handcuffed him, put him in a squad car and searched his vehicle without asking him any questions. Earlier that day, CPD officers had asked that the Glenview officers who were assisting them, turn off the audio and video systems in their squad cars so Sperling's traffic stop would not be recorded. But the CPD officers were unaware that one of the Glenview squad cars' recording capabilities had not been disabled, and the entire encounter was documented. During the search of Sperling's vehicle, Pruente found a bag containing illegal drugs and filed felony drug charges against Sperling. At a criminal hearing, Officers Morgan and Pruente and Sgt. Padar, of CPD, and two Glenview officers lied under oath, unaware of the existence of the Glenview squad car video. They said Sperling was asked for his driver's license and insurance and that he told officers he had marijuana in his vehicle before they handcuffed him. The video of the traffic stop was then shown in the court, refuting what the officers had just said. The criminal court judge said, "There's strong evidence it was a conspiracy to lie in this case, for everyone to come up with the same lie." The criminal charges against Sperling were dismissed.