A 28-year-old mother of three is suing Carpentersville and three of its police officers, claiming they broke into the wrong apartment during a drug bust last year.
The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court, names Kianna Jakes of Carpentersville and her three minor children - aged 11, 9, and 6 - as plaintiffs. Officer Matthew Ostrem and two unnamed officers are listed as defendants.
The plaintiffs are seeking "a substantial sum in punitive damages," as well as court costs and attorney fees, court documents state
"We are not demanding an amount, we are seeking what the court finds reasonable," Jakes attorney Tony Thedford said Tuesday.
Jakes' suit alleges Ostrem and the two unnamed officers forcefully entered her apartment on the 0-100 block of Oxford Road in the early hours of January 17 last year without a warrant.
Thedford said the officers, dressed in SWAT uniforms with lights on their heads and carrying assault weapons, kicked in Jakes' bedroom door, yelling at her to get on the floor face down.
After asking to see a warrant, the suit says, Jakes was shown a warrant to search a different apartment.
Despite being in the wrong apartment, the suit alleges the officers used police dogs to search the home for drugs.
The incident took about two hours, Thedford said.
"As a direct and proximate result of this illegal search and seizure, plaintiffs have suffered damages, including emotional damages," the suit says.
Carpentersville Police Commander Tim Bosshart declined to comment on the lawsuit until the department and village received official paperwork.
By Larissa Chinwah
January 28, 2009
Daily Herald
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=267551
29-01-2009, 18:31
Similar Threads
Threaded Mode