Grandmother traumatized after traffic stop by Chicago police

by Wendell Hutson
Chicago Defender
Jul. 17, 2010

A West Side grandmother is recovering from bruises to her arm after a Tuesday traffic stop by Chicago police left her and her two, young grandchildren emotionally damaged.

On Thursday she filed a compliant with the Independent Police Review Authority and was scheduled to meet with police brass at Area 5 headquarters, 5555 W. Grand Ave.

“If I am ever stopped again by the Chicago police while driving I will be scared for my safety,” Jimmie Osideko, 50, told the Defender. “There was no reason for these officers to ‘man’ handle me the way they did especially in front of my grandchildren.”

Osideko, who lives in the Austin community, said she was leaving choir rehearsal from Greater St. John Bible Church on the West Side around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday when she was forced to stop her car because there was a car double-parked in the street.

“Two plain clothes police officers then pulled up behind me and was blowing their horn and shouting for me to pull over but I couldn’t because I was blocked in,” she recalls. “So when I did not move my car the officers drove up beside me and ordered me out my car and that’s when all hell broke loose.”

According to Osideko, once she stepped out her car, one officer allegedly grabbed her and twisted her right arm so hard she suffered bruises, which were visible two days after the allege incident that took place at the corner of 1200 N. Menard.

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