Oak Lawn settles resident’s police brutality claim for $2.7 million

Feb. 17--Oak Lawn trustees on Tuesday approved a $2.7 million settlement with a man who alleged two police officers brutalized him in his home without provocation while a young daughter watched and another listened to the beating.

The settlement, which was executed on Feb. 8 and must be paid out within 21 days, will be divided between the plaintiff Piotr Niton, a construction contractor and Oak Lawn resident, and his two daughters, who were minors when the alleged incident happened July 27, 2013. It's the second multi-million dollar settlement Oak Lawn has paid out on account of police officer actions in a little over two years.

In November 2014, the village paid out $3 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Charles Petrishe, a resident shot seven times by police after he raised a knife at them following a domestic disturbance call.

Niton's suit, which was filed in federal court in June 2015, named the village, Officers James S. Mitchell and Timothy A. Thomas, and Sgt. David Winston as defendants. It alleged false arrest, false imprisonment, excessive force and a cover-up of the incident that included generating incomplete reports and agreeing to testify falsely at trial, among numerous other claims.

Niton's attorney David Sterba said he believed the $2.7 million payout constituted "a fair and reasonable solution," to his client's situation.

"We're very proud of our client for displaying the courage to stand up and fight for justice," he said, before declining additional comment on the case, citing restrictions contained in the terms of the pact.

Oak Lawn village manager Larry Deetjen said he was disappointed by the "very large" settlement and denied all wrongdoing on the part of the officers involved.

He faulted the judicial system and the microscope that police officers must operate under today for forcing the village's hand.

"A decision was made," he said, "that we were better off, given the climate, given what's happening today in society, to settle this manner, and that was a collective decision that was made. It was certainly not easy."

According to Niton's suit, he was asleep on his living room couch in the early morning hours of July 27, 2013 when Mitchell and Thomas, who were investigating a hit-and-run involving a truck registered to his name, woke him with loud knocking on the front door.

When the officers asked Niton to come outside and show them to his van in the garage, he declined to exit his residence but offered to open the garage door so they could inspect the vehicle, the suit claims.

At that point, the suit alleges, Thomas forced his way into Niton's residence, shoved him down on the ground and began to knee and punch his body. Mitchell also began kneeing Niton, according to the suit, and then both officers started beating him with their steel service batons.

Thomas repeatedly lifted Niton off the floor by his leather belt and slammed him down on his back until the belt snapped, the suit alleges. At that point, Mitchell put Niton into a chokehold and Thomas handcuffed him, according to the lawsuit.

As Niton was led out his front door by the officers, including Winston, he was again kicked and punched and fell to the floor, the suit claims.

All the while, Niton's young daughters could hear the "yelling, screaming and striking" from their bedrooms, and the older girl witnessed the officers beating her father, the suit alleges.

Niton's attorney David Sterba told the Daily Southtown in 2015 that his client's injuries forced him to undergo spinal surgery.

Police charged Niton with aggravated battery, criminal damage to property, resisting a peace officer and obstructing a peace officer, but according to the suit, a judge found no probable cause for the charges and dismissed the case.

Niton was subsequently indicted by a Cook County grand jury and charged with several counts of aggravated battery and criminal damage to property, but was acquitted of all charges after a short jury trial, according to the suit.

Sterba has said previously that police ended up at his client's door that night because a truck registered to him, but driven by one of his employees, was involved in a hit-and-run crash. The employee ditched the van in a parking lot, which police found and traced to Niton, he said.

Oak Lawn police tell a far different story of what occurred that night.

In the village's response to Niton's complaint, it acknowledged that Thomas and Mitchell visited the man's residence shortly after midnight. They asked Niton whether he had been driving that night and the location of his van, and asked him to exit his home and lead the officers to his van, court documents state.

After he declined to do so, however, the officers deny pushing their way into Niton's residence, forcing him to the ground, beating him with their batons, choking him and raising and slamming him to the ground using his belt.

They do acknowledge in their response to the complaint that at some point Thomas landed partially on Niton, and that both officers used knee strikes on his body. They also acknowledge that Niton was handcuffed and led out the door.

Deetjen characterized the incident as a "he said, she said" case, where Niton disobeyed the police officers' orders and the officers responded appropriately.

"Their commands were disobeyed, and the incident occurred thereafter, and that's why we have problems in this country," he said. "When an officer gives you a command, please, respond to that officer's command. I don't think that needs to be explained at all. That's the law."

None of the officers named in the suit were disciplined or made to undergo additional training as a result of the incident, Deetjen said.

All three still worked as Oak Lawn police officers as of the end of last year, according to a roster of salaried employees posted recently on the village's website.

Deetjen said he wasn't sure if any of the officers named in the lawsuit had been the subject of complaints before or after the incident with Niton, but said that he couldn't think of any Oak Lawn officers with a "repetitive record" of complaints.

"They're going into charged situations and for the most part they...do a great job," he said. "But the nature of their job is going to end up with complaints, most of which get resolved, and some of which do not, like the Niton case.

"You do your best to...resolve those matters and then take that into consideration for future training."

He said all Oak Lawn officers receive a high standard of training, both in the academy and on an ongoing basis once they join the force.

"They get regular training every year on an ongoing basis that they're employed by the village," he said. "And that training brings in experts in the field of law enforcement to discuss recent decisions, court cases, how you would respond to a call."

The private insurance carrier that covers Oak Lawn's public safety services will take care of the sizable payout to Niton and his daughters, meaning that the village's budget and 2017 allocations and spending decisions won't be impacted, Deetjen said.

The hefty settlement will, however, affect the insurance rates Oak Lawn pays going forward, he said.

"Even though the insurance companies are paying, so are the taxpayers," he said. "They're paying indirectly because such settlements impact insurance rates and paying indirectly because there's a retainage, where the village is incurring legal costs to defend itself."

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