Dash Cam Video Shows Evanston Cops Take Motorist Down
(CBS) – Newly released dash camera video shows the takedown and arrest of a Northwestern University student who says Evanston police officers used excessive force.
CBS 2's Audrina Bigos reports.
An alderman who is running for mayor claims the video from two years ago is proof a bigger problem within the police department.
The dash video shows student Lawrence Crosby in October 2015 stepping out of a vehicle with his hands up.
He's taken down by Evanston officers and struck multiple times. He says he was kicked.
Crosby's attorney, Timothy J. Touhy, says although the traffic stop was justified, nothing else was.
Someone called 9-1-1 to report a possible car theft, but the vehicle was actually Crosby's and registered in his name.
"They took him to the station and charged him with two criminal offenses, for which Lawrence had to stand trial and was acquitted," Touhy says.
Now, Crosby is suing the city of Evanston and three police officers, claiming false arrest and excessive force.
"I would suggest that police could have handled the stop considerably better," Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl says.
Brian Miller, the 9th Ward alderman who pushed for the release of the video, says the incident shows a larger problem – that police aren't good at deescalating confrontations.
"The video shows one of the most outrageous acts I've seen from our officers so far," he says.
There were 17 citizen complaints against Evanston police in 2016 – out of 77,000 calls of service.
Evanston police say all of the officers seen in the video are on full duty. The department declined comment about the suit.
