Chicago Lawsuit Alleges Violations by Stone Park Police

21 October 2005

The following was released today by the law offices of Blake Horwitz, regarding a federal lawsuit filed against police in Stone Park: A man pulls over to wash his car and a woman approaches him, saying she'll "do anything," asking "how much would you give me." The man rebuffs her and drives off.

Suddenly, he's pulled over by police officers who impound his car without telling him what he's being ticketed for, only that he has to pay $500 plus storage fees to get his car back. Later the man gets a ticket for solicitation of prostitution and is summoned to a quasi-criminal hearing.

This scenario is being played over and over again in Stone Park, a federal lawsuit is alleging: Stone Park police officers are arresting men on bogus solicitation charges, trying them in sham trials, and charging them towing and impound fees whether or not they are found liable.
The lawsuit gathered steam today as the Law Offices of Blake Horwitz, attorneys for the plaintiffs, named seven more plaintiffs to the lawsuit and added claims of conspiracy, due process violations, equal protection conversion and a RICO count -- the statute used to charge mob figures -- to the existing counts of false arrest and malicious prosecution.

"These men are falsely arrested and shaken down for hundreds of dollars," said Blake Horwitz, attorney for the nine plaintiffs. "Under cross examination in most cases the woman's story doesn't hold up. But some men are found liable anyway and suffer the threat of unjustly having their names published in the newspaper. Even those exonerated men still have to pay up to $1200, cash, in impound fees."

Because the men are charged with a municipal violation instead of a criminal one, the village does not have to obey the rules of evidence and the burden of proof is much lower -- the defendants are found 'liable' (not 'guilty') by a preponderance of the evidence instead of beyond a reasonable doubt. Every case relies solely on the word of Jenny Sanchez, an auxiliary police officer posing as a prostitute, and the hearings take place in the same building as the police department.

At least one plaintiff's car suffered damage while in impound, Horwitz said, and one plaintiff lost his job because the car that was impounded was his company's car. "It's the same story, over and over again, from every single person," Horwitz said. "No one solicited this woman, yet they all still have to pay Stone Park to get their cars back. The village is relying on their embarrassment to keep this money-making scheme quiet, but I think they'll find that there are many falsely accused men out there who don't want to keep quiet any longer."

A press conference will be held Friday, October 21, at noon at the Law Offices of Blake Horwitz, 155 N. Michigan Ave., 5th floor.
http://www.usnewswire.com/

Source: U.S.Newswire

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