Suit: Police Beat Four Men in Bar Room Brawl

Trial in a civil suit against the city and Chicago police officers alleging police brutality commenced this week, the Chicago Tribune reports.

More than a dozen officers are facing allegations, including excessive force and failure to intervene, over a barroom brawl that broke out between off-duty officers and four men playing pool at the Jefferson Tap & Grille in December 2006.

Barry and Aaron Gilfand, Adam Mastrucci, and Scott Lowrance were playing pool at the bar on the night the incident took place. Six off-duty Chicago police officers were also at the bar, after attending a Christmas party. One officer, Paul Powers, was reportedly in a bad mood and had to have his gun taken from him by the other officers.

At around 3:30 a.m., a fight broke out between the two groups. According to the four men, they were assaulted after one of the officers said, “Game over,” while pushing the pool balls into the table’s pockets. When officers responded after the bar called 911, the off-duty officers allegedly waved them off.

The Cook County state’s attorney charged Powers and two other officers with aggravated battery for the attack. However, all three officers were acquitted of the criminal charges.

At the civil trial, the jury was shown a surveillance video that captured the fight. ”You see in the video the arrogance inside and outside [the bar],” Christopher Smith, the plaintiffs’ attorney, said. “Knowing they could get responding officers to turn a blind eye.”

The intentional tort of civil battery involves an intentional touching or application of force to another person’s body in a harmful or offensive manner without his or her consent. If the allegations against the off-duty officers are true, they could be held liable for civil battery.

The on-duty officers who responded to the call will likely argue qualified immunity, a defense that protects government officials from liability for the violation of a person’s rights.

At the trial, Brian Gainer, an attorney for the officers, painted a different picture of the fight at Jefferson Tap & Grille. “This is mutual,” Gainer said. “Pushing, shoving, grabbing, holding. This is not a one-sided attack.”

Related Resources:


Find a Chicago Personal Injury Attorney (FindLaw)
Civil Trial Over Jefferson Tap Fight Begins (CBS News)
Personal Injury Law: The Basics (FindLaw)
Perfect Storm of Police Misconduct Suits Slams the City (FindLaw’s Chicago Personal Injury Law Blog)



The Chicago Personal Injury Law Blog

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