North Chicago Officers Involved in the Death of Darrin Hanna Accused of Lying About Another Violent Arrest of a Black Man

Bogus Arrest Triggered Parole Revocation and Loss of his Child From [HERE] A Black man claims he was beaten, harassed, Tasered and jailed on trumped-up charges. Jerrad McGill, 32, of North Chicago, filed suit Oct. 28 in U.S. District Court in Chicago against the city of North Chicago and the police officers involved in his arrest on Oct. 26, 2011.

Named as defendants in the suit are officers Arthur Strong, Johnny Parasain and 19-year veteran of the force, Sgt. Sal Cecala (in photo), who both wrote and signed-off on a use-of-force report on the arrest. The report alleges that McGill was wanted on two warrants, under different names, when he was spotted by patrol officers near Tee Pee Liquor Mart, 1801 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, and took off running. Officers tackled McGill and used an arm bar on him in wresting his arms and hands from under his body.

The report says nothing about use of a Taser and stated that McGill showed no visible injuries.

But the complaint tells a different story: that McGill did not run or resist, that he was forced to the ground and placed in a arm bar after insisting the warrants were for his brother and that he was Tasered while in the arm-bar hold. McGill also alleges that, after his arrest, Cecala entered his cell and ripped the Taser prongs from his back. His attorney, Kevin O’Connor, hopes to prove taser use through video evidence on all 24 stun guns owned by the department, which a federal judge recently ordered the city to turn over, he said.

The suit alleges that the city looked the other way despite a pattern of excessive force by certain officers; that the police administration under former police chief Michael Newsome actively discouraged truthful use-of-force reporting and failed to implement remedial steps recommended under a 2007 Memorandum of Understanding agreement it made with a citizen coalition that included the NAACP. It also alleges that city “maliciously” filed felony charges against McGill, knowing that he was a parolee and the charges, which were later dropped, would trigger a parole violation and send him back to prison.

Both Strong and Cecala have been implicated in other excessive force suits, most notably one involving the death of Darrin Hanna on Nov 13, 2011, a week after he was taken into custody. Strong, who has served on the force since 2005, one of six arresting officers, was suspended 30 days without pay for falsifying a report on the incident. Cecala was supervising officer during the arrest. “Cecala was supervisor on all these night crew cases,” O’Connor said. “He’s the guy signing off on his own use-of-force form.”

The Hanna case sparked a four-month long investigation by the Illinois State Police Integrity Unit, followed by a finding of “reasonable force” by the Lake County State’s Attorney Office. An autopsy found that Taser use and physical restraint contributed to the death.

McGill, who had a prior conviction for robbery, was reincarcerated for a year in March 2012. The suit asks for unspecified compensatory damages and punitive damages.

“He lost custody of his child after his parole was revoked,” said O’Connor, whose Chicago law firm has represented more than a dozen other litigants in similar cases against the city, achieving settlements so far in about half.

Newsome, a 20-year veteran, retired as top cop under pressure in February 2012. In January, he was indicted for the alleged theft of more than $140,000 from the city’s drug asset forfeiture fund. That case is now in court.

His replacement, Chief James Jackson, has tightened reporting procedures and increased training. But Ralph Peterson of Waukegan, a cousin of Darrin Hanna, accuses Jackson of recently recommending Cecala for promotion to lieutenant.

The 21-page complaint paints a picture of a police department in disarray.