A 17-year-old whose arrest by Oak Lawn police was captured on video and showed officers delivering blows to his head and thigh was released from juvenile detention Tuesday into the custody of his family.
The teen had been released Monday from Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn where he had been following his July 27 arrest.
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Using a walker and standing outside the Cook County juvenile detention center during a news conference Tuesday, he thanked those who have been supporting him.
Shady Yassin, an attorney for family, said the youth had been handcuffed to a hospital bed during his stay at the Oak Lawn hospital.
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“He’s suffering a lot of injuries, some known, some unknown,” Yassin said.
His July 27 arrest in Oak Lawn was captured on video by witnesses, and those videos, along with Oak Lawn police dashboard camera videos, show the teen pinned down by officers, with one delivering several punches with a closed fist to the right side of the youth’s head and another punching him in the right thigh.
Initially, two officers had him face down on the street near the intersection of 95th Street and McVicker Avenue, then a third officer arrived and the teen was hit with a Taser then handcuffed.
Police said they found a .25 caliber pistol in what they described as an “accessory bag” draped over his right shoulder.
The teen filed a federal lawsuit Monday alleging his civil rights were violated and accused the three unnamed Oak Lawn police officers of engaging in “extreme and outrageous conduct” in the course of the arrest. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and names the village, Oak Lawn’s Police Department and three officers as defendants.
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Following his release Monday from the hospital, Oak Lawn police charged the youth as a juvenile with felonies including resisting arrest and unlawful use of a weapon. He had been held at the department’s lockup pending Tuesday’s detention hearing.
At a news conference Monday outside the Oak Lawn police station, before charges were announced, supporters said the teen should be immediately released into the custody of his parents.
“He needs to heal from the brutal, brutal assault that was carried out by these officers,” said Muhammad Sankari, lead organizer with the Arab American Action Network.
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The youth fled from police following a traffic stop in the 9500 block of Southwest Highway, and Oak Lawn police Chief Daniel Vittorio, at a news conference the day after the arrest, said officers feared for their lives because they believed the teen had a firearm.
At Monday’s news conference after the teen’s release from the hospital, his mother, Dena Natour, said her son had “suffered enough and I want my child home.”
She said her son told her that “he is traumatized by fear, he can’t sleep at night.”
mnolan@tribpub.com
