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Mar 5, 2009 7:37 am US/Central
Woman Wins $261,000 In Brutality Suit Against Cops
Several Officers Named In Robin Petrovic's Lawsuit
A federal jury in Chicago on Wednesday awarded a 32-year-old university lecturer $261,000 in a brutality suit against Chicago Police, including one officer who allegedly had racked up more than 50 complaints against him -- some accusing him of beatings -- during his career.
"My faith in the justice system has been restored," Robin Petrovic said after the verdict. "However, I feel somewhat distrustful of the police," said the literature and English composition instructor, who works at Loyola University and the University of Illinois at Chicago.
After the 2005 incident, the police Office of Professional Standards determined the officers had not battered Petrovic. Since then, OPS has disbanded, and now the city's Independent Police Review Authority has the power to re-examine the case.
One of the officers involved in the suit, James Chevas, has resigned, according to court testimony. Chevas, whom the lawsuit says had 50-plus complaints filed against him during his time on the force, quit after he allegedly was caught on a store video using credit cards he had confiscated.
Petrovic had called police to the Funky Buddha Lounge, 728 W. Grand Ave., reporting she had been attacked. But she refused officers' request to sign a blank criminal complaint form against her assailant, and things reportedly turned ugly.
As she recorded the badge numbers of the offices, Petrovic says she was struck on the back of the head, knocked to the ground, handcuffed and placed in the back of a police wagon.
She says that's where Chevas threw her down, repeatedly kicked her in the head and between her legs, curing at her before taking her to a police station, where she was charged with aggravated battery of a police officer, a case that was eventually dropped.
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