Victim of Video-taped police beating sues Chicago in Federal Court

LaMonte Simmons, a witness to a warrantless police raid, beaten for objecting to police alleged wrong-doing

 

Chicago, IL – The videotaped beating of a young African American man who witnessed and objected to a warrantless, no-knock raid on his neighbor are the subject of a federal lawsuit filed today by civil rights attorneys at Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law. 

The August 3, 2009 attack was witnessed by dozens of Chicago police officers and despite the videotape, Chicago’s Police Board and Independent Police Review Authority have failed to take any actions against any of the officers.

At about 7 PM on that day LaMonte Simmons, 22, of Chicago’s West Pullman neighborhood was sitting on the stairs outside the home of Ramona, Chadel and Cresel Davis as Chicago Police Officers Couch (#12716) and Percy (#17873) entered the house without knocking or displaying a warrant.

When then-16-year-old Chadel Davis emerged from the house into an enclosed porch, Officer Couch put him in a choke-hold.  When his mother, Ramona Davis, objected and told the officers that Chadel was only 16, they grabbed her by the neck and slammed her against a wall, twisting her arm behind her back. 

Simmons then asked Officers Couch and Percy why they behaved this way, to which they ordered him to leave the property. Simmons complied with the officers’ order and walked a short ways down the street.  As shown on footage later recovered from a neighbor’s cell phone camera, at that point Simmons stopped and merely stood on the sidewalk. 

The footage clearly shows a Lieutenant walk up to Officer Bolin and say something to him, after which Bolin, accompanied by about 10 other officers, walked about 25 feet down the street to Simmons and punched him in the face without any provocation.  Not only does the footage show that the other officers failed to intervene to restrain Officer Bolin from his illegal assault, several of them joined in on pushing Simmons to the ground and illegally arresting him.

“This was not a crime of passion, driven by adrenaline and the heat of the moment,” said Simmons’ attorney, Jon Loevy of Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law.  “It was a deliberate, violent act.  Dozens of officers witnessed this illegal act by their co-workers, and not a single one reported it.  Then IPRA and the Police Board sat on the evidence for nearly two years.  Despite video tape proof of an unprovoked, violent attack, IPRA and the Department have taken no action.”

Mr. Simmons and Mr. Loevy will speak at a 1 PM press conference at Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law, 312 N. May Street, Chicago, where they will narrate the video footage of the assault.  Tape of the assault can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFUxDUygEgg.  Copies of Mr. Simmons’ federal suit are available upon request by email to CCAWR@aol.com or calling Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law at 312-243-5900.

Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law (www.Loevy.com) is the largest civil rights firm in the Midwest.  Over the past decade, Loevy & Loevy has won more in jury verdicts against law enforcement abuses than any other firm in the region.