Officers Investigated After Alleged Beating Of Liquor Store Manager
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Several Chicago Police officers are under investigation, after two men say they were brutally beaten inside a Southwest Side liquor store.
The videotape of the alleged beating has now been released. It shows police taking manager Michael Ayala and his brother to the ground during an incident on Tuesday at the 7-9-11 Liquor Store, at 4884 S. Archer Ave.
Ayala says the real trouble began when he told police he had captured the situation on videotape.
"I told one of the cops, 'I got you on camera, and I'm not going to let this go," he said. "Now when that happened, the sergeant just flipped out on me and bashed my head right against this window right here."
The store window to which he was referring was left cracked in a spider web pattern.
Ayala said he was also "bashed" all around his body by the officers.
When asked if he thought he gave the officers a reason to get angry with him when he closed the door of his store, Ayala said, "I don't think there should be a reason for somebody to brutally beat someone like that for anything."
After the beating, Ayala says he and his brother were arrested and taken to jail, as was his brother. They were released without charges soon afterward.
Ayala says he never did anything to provoke the beating.
"I never approached them to a point where I physically touched them," he said. "I would never do that to an officer."
Ayala adds that he is now afraid of the police, to the point where he is considering taking his neighborhood watch sign down. The sign says that all suspicious activity will be reported to police, but Ayala says he now doesn't think he will be able to call police even if the store is robbed.
Ayala adds that he is working with the attorney and the owner of the store to get him a copy of the surveillance video. He says five cameras captured the beating.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel says the Independent Police Review Authority is now handling the investigation.
