Man Claims Police Beat Him As Son, 2, Watched

April 4, 2011 5:41 PM

Police Gun Generic (Photo by Tim Boyle/Getty Images)

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CHICAGO (STMW) — In a federal lawsuit filed Monday a man claims Chicago Heights police officers dragged him out of his vehicle and punched him while his two-year-old son watched.

Thomas Guzman claims that he was driving, with his two-year-old son as a passenger, on April 5, 2010 in Chicago Heights when he noticed people arguing and continued driving, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

Guzman’s vehicle was pulled over by Chicago Heights police officers Tom Disney and Benjamin Nguyen, according to the suit. The officers approached the car with guns drawn, dragged Guzman out of the vehicle and pushed him to the ground, the suit said.

The suit claims that Guzman was horrified and pleaded with officers not to shoot him as his son was in the car. Disney was handcuffing Guzman when Nguyen punched him in the face without any provocation, according to the suit.

Guzman noticed that one of the residents of the home where his car had been pulled over was video recording the incident with his cell phone, according to the suit. Once the officers realized they were being recorded, Disney approached the resident, and seized and destroyed the cell phone. Disney also beat the resident, the suit said.

A third officer arrived and took Guzman to the police station, according to the suit. After he was released, Guzman went to St. James Hospital for treatment of his injuries where he was diagnosed with a concussion and post concussive syndrome.

The five-count suit seeks a jury trial and claims excessive force and conspiracy. The suit seeks unspecified damages, court costs and attorney fees.

A spokesperson for the Chicago Heights police was not immediately available for comment.

Man Claims Police Beat Him As Son, 2, Watched

johnny chingas

Chicago police abusing their power as officers of the law? Never, thats just not believable.
amenra

A newly arrived immigrant from Vietnam accused of police brutality? What other proof do we need to identfy post America…….Say it isn’t so Joe
CitizensOfCook

I agree johnny, it’s BS. Guzman provoked the whole thing. He must have matched a discription, maybe? Either way, he should have cooperated, without any attitude or lip!! No cash payout, no jackpot justice!!!

Steven Mark Tobin

stick it, loser!

Gabe

CitizensOfCook, wait until the day these pigs drag your white ass out of your car for no reason and beat your ass for coping an attitude with them. You will be the first one to call a lawyer. Just wait it’s a matter of time. Clearly his civil rights where violated. He deserves every damn penny and go after the police officers bank account and maybe these pigs will learn to respect people. You give you get just because you carry a badge you ain’t above the law.

Steven Mark Tobin

Yup.

Ben Diaz

chicago cops are simple beasts. respect them, don’t lie to them, and do what they tell you and 9 times out of 10 they won’t kick your ass.

Bill T.

Exactly, tell that to all the ignorant police haters!!

Centurion

Who are the CSB2 readers that are blithering idiots? The posts keep insisting it was CHICAGO COPS…PAY ATTENTION IDIOTS…IT WAS CHICAGO HEIGHTS COPS…not Chicago.

So, what was Guzman charged with ? This Disney cop needs to be arrested for assault, assault and battery, destruction of private property, intimidation of a witness for the garbage he pulled on the local resident. This is not the first time Chicago Heights cops have done this…and it won’t be the last. They did the same thing to a woman some years ago…she filed suit..and won.

Now for the good stuff, at least the cops were on duty, Chicago Heights cops are known for driving drunk and killing people…as one of them did not long ago in Western Will County. Drunk cop speeding kills teenager..and somehow..its the dead teenagers fault.
Raymond Prudente

Citizen Of CROOK, your buddy Nguyen is a coward trigger- happy cop. Vietnamese Americans are law abiding people he should be ashamed of himself. Chicago has a moral facade that it maintains to disguise its corruption, love for money and power and it’s never going to change. The tendencies for politicians, police officers and government personnel to become corrupted, abusive and yet remain immune to the law. CORRUPTION and ABUSE of POWER are normal for them.

Prosecutors and Judges neither heard the screams of more than 100 TORTURE VICTIMS and the injuries and pain suffered by victims of POLICE BRUTALITY. How did our town so good at being so bad? The people of Chicago deserve a better government, people do get the government they deserve.