Sick Police Brutality On A Woman In Custody
From the Chicago Trib's YouTube description:
A Chicago woman has sued the Village of Skokie and one of its police officers, alleging she was seriously injured after being shoved headfirst into a concrete jail cell bench last spring. Part of the incident was recorded on a jailhouse video camera.
Juan Perez, Jr., writes in the Chicago Tribune:
A Chicago woman has sued the village of Skokie and one of its police officers, alleging she was seriously injured after being shoved headfirst into a jail cell bench after a drunken driving arrest last winter.Cassandra Feuerstein, 47, said in a federal lawsuit that the incident required facial reconstructive surgery and the insertion of a titanium plate to "replace the bones that had been shattered."
Part of the alleged incident was recorded on jail video cameras, which Feuerstein's attorney, Torreya Hamilton, released Wednesday.
"The video speaks for itself," Hamilton said. "She does nothing to justify what this male police officer does."
Feuerstein was arrested for drunken driving March 10, according to Hamilton and court documents. The video shows officers searching Feuerstein inside the jail cell, where she appears to be asked to remove her boots and bra before being removed from the cell for additional processing.
An officer then takes Feuerstein by the arm and appears to push her back into the cell. Video shows Feuerstein falling forward and striking her head and face on a bench, before officers and paramedics tend to her as a pool of blood spreads on the floor.
Just think of all the events not caught on camera.
UPDATE -- The woman speaks here:
via @TedFrank
We don't seem to have any problem giving the name of the woman who was brutally shoved into the bench, or that she was arrested for "drunken driving." Why are we protecting the identity of the "male police officer"?
Apparently, some people accused of crimes are protected, others aren't.
And if she was driving while intoxicated, I have no sympathy for her whatsoever. As far as I'm concerned, the penalties for DUI are much too lenient.
And maybe this cop feels the same way. However, it's not his job to punish the offenders. There can be no justification for this.
Patrick at October 11, 2013 1:09 AM
There was a similar case in Cheshire (I think), CT, but it was a male prisoner, and the cop was the son of the town's chief of police. Incident happened in 2010, the cop was just now (2 or 3 weeks ago) found guilty and sentenced to jail time.
Sometimes justice is served.
Flynne at October 11, 2013 4:52 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2013/10/11/sick_police_bru.html#comment-3971681">comment from PatrickOfficer is named here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2453145/Cassandra-Feuerstein-sues-police-shoved-jail-cell-hard-reconstructive-surgery.html
Amy Alkon at October 11, 2013 5:20 AM
Thank you very much, Amy.
Then Michael Hart needs to be doing some hard time himself. That is at least felony battery in my state and probably a couple of other charges.
Patrick at October 11, 2013 6:19 AM
The whole DWI/DUI system is a total mess. The number of accidents solely attributable to alcohol at the .08-.12 BAC are negligible as I understand it. But the amount of money the whole system gets out of it is in the hundreds of millions. But that is not the argument for this entry.
On that I thoroughly agree. I wonder how many cases like this aren't caught? I doubt she was the first person he shoved around.
Jim P. at October 11, 2013 7:46 AM
If you watch the news tape, the woman who was arrested explains that she had pulled over and parked her car before falling asleep. She was arrested some time later.
The officer is identified by name later in the tape. However one feels about DUI, the officer's actions are deplorable.
Janet C at October 11, 2013 11:56 AM
We don't seem to have any problem giving the name of the woman who was brutally shoved into the bench, or that she was arrested for "drunken driving." Why are we protecting the identity of the "male police officer"?
For the same reason that we don't have any problem giving out the name and photo and address, dismissing from the job and throwing in jail of a person merely accused of rape or dv notwithstanding the fact that there is a 95% chance of him being innocent, but have a very very big problem giving out the name and address and photo of a woman who has falsely accused anyone of rape or dv. Exceptions like crystal gail mangum are just that-exceptions. And of course, the office was identified anyway, so the whining about his name not being disclosed is quite unfair
Redrajesh at October 11, 2013 11:14 PM
Any law enforcement officer who cannot or will not do his or her job without committing crimes against other people is a shit stain on society that needs to be wiped up.
Ken R at October 12, 2013 11:09 AM
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