City settles suit after cop forcibly arrests and detains children over argument at school playlot

Chicago Tribune
Nov. 21, 2011

Donna Moore says her son was afraid to leave home for almost a year after he and his sister were allegedly attacked by a Chicago police detective upset over an earlier altercation with his son at a Beverly neighborhood school playlot.

The two, 11 and 13 at the time, were arrested and detained for several hours but later exonerated in Juvenile Court, according to court records.
[...]
According to the family's federal lawsuit, Moore's son, then in the fifth grade and weighing 100 pounds, argued with another boy at the playground in May 2007. Shortly after the boy left, Smith, the boy's father, showed up and chased Moore's son before attacking him and announcing he was under arrest, the suit alleged.

Smith also attacked Moore's daughter when she tried to pull the officer off her brother, according to the suit.

Other officers arrived and arrested both children. They were handcuffed behind their backs, placed in the back of a police car, transported to the Morgan Park District station and detained for eight hours, the suit alleged.

Read More