CHICAGO
--
Attorneys for a paralyzed man allegedly beaten by Chicago police officers in 2006 will file a federal lawsuit on Thursday.
The suit, which names the City of Chicago, Chicago Police Department and individual officers, claims that in October 2006, officers pushed, hit and kicked Daniel Casares, a quadriplegic, to the point of unconsciousness while he lay helpless on the ground.
"Once they pulled me out of the car, I fell straight to the floor -- I was handicapped," Casares said.
Casares, a quadriplegic since 2002, was sitting in the passenger seat of a car that had been pulled over by police officers, according to a release from attorney Blake Horwitz. The officers approached the vehicle with guns drawn, yelling at Casares to get out of car.
"They pretty much pulled me out and started kicking me and punching me," he said. "I was scared for my life."
Despite Casares' pleas that he was severely disabled, the officers forcibly dragged him out of the car and beat him unconscious, the suit claims.
"It is very difficult to understand why a paralyzed man would be beaten by a Chicago officer -- except to explain it as wanton brutality," Horwitz said in the release.
In the suit, to be filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Casares alleges his constitutional rights were violated when police officers acted with excessive force and battered his body.
"They threw him on the ground and they beat him up, plain and simple," Horwitz said. "They took a paralyzed man, threw him on the ground and beat him up."
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