Off-Duty Chicago Police Officer Pinned 14-Year-Old Boy Against Sidewalk, Family And Lawyers Say

Block Club Chicago

July 6, 2022

A Park Ridge family say they intend to sue a Chicago police officer, alleging he pinned down their 14-year-old son and pressed his knee into the boy’s back last week.

Lawyers for the boy’s family said the officer — who was off-duty at the time — targeted the boy, who is of Puerto Rican heritage, as he stood among a group of white friends Friday in suburban Park Ridge. The man said the boy was stealing a bike, the lawyers said, but the family thinks the attack was racially motivated.

Antonio Romanucci, an attorney representing the Nieves family, said his firm is investigating before proceeding with legal action.

“This boy had done nothing wrong. He had committed no crime. He wasn’t armed. He wasn’t aggressive. He had not resisted with anybody. He was there with his bike,” Romanucci said. “The officer used excessive force on a child. He escalated a situation where no aggression was necessary at all.”