A woman who was arrested in Skokie, Illinois, for drunk driving and resisting a police officer was shoved into a jail cell by a police officer so forcibly that she struck a concrete bench with her face and shattered the bones in her face. Cassandra Feuerstein, 47, has filed a federal lawsuit against the police officer an the city of Skokie claiming that that excessive force was used and that she needed reconstructive surgery after the incident on March 10.
The video of the incident shows the police officer, Michael Hart, shoving her violently into the cell, the resultant trauma as she hits her face on the bench, and a pool of blood on the floor after the blow.
Feuerstein claims that Hart faked a report in which he stated that she resisted police in order to explain his actions. She added, “Apparently I was not looking into the camera the way the officer wanted me to
Feuerstein’s attorney Torreya Hamilton asserted: “The video speaks for itself. She does nothing to justify what this male police officer does. If this was a tavern fight, which of course it wasn’t, it’d be like she got sucker-punched.”
Feuerstein was charged with resisting an officer as well as drunk driving, but although she pleaded guilty to the DUI, the police dropped the charge of resisting the officer
Skokie town spokeswoman Ann Tennes said in a statement: “The Village of Skokie expresses deep concern for Ms Cassandra Feuerstein’s injuries that occurred at the Skokie Police Station earlier this year. Officer Michael Hart has been on station duty and has no contact with the public. Both the Village of Skokie and the Cook County State’s Attorney have ongoing investigations pending that began when the incident occurred.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.