Settlement Reached After Wrong Chicago Police Raid Sparks Lawsuit

A settlement agreement was reached between the City of Chicago and an individual. an innocent family whose house was mistakenly stormed by the Chicago police.

Based on documents from the federal courts, the settlement was reached late Tuesday during a highly charged trial. In this trial, members of the Mendez family and their children gave testimony about police pointing firearms at them, which has left them deeply scarred emotionally ever since.

The settlement figure is under wraps and awaits endorsement from the Chicago City Council. The municipal Law Department has opted not to make statements until further notice.

The Mendez family filed a lawsuit against the City of Chicago , alleging that the police infringed upon their civil rights and caused trauma to them and their children — then 9-year-old Peter and 5-year-old Jack — during the raid in November 2017.

The botched raid Triggered CBS News Chicago’s extensive probe into repeated instances where Chicago police conducted raids on incorrect residences and employed force against minors, even resorting to handcuffs and aiming firearms at them.

The struggle for the family began after a confidential informant, also known as "J. Doe," informed the authorities about drug sales taking place in the second-story flat located at 2300 South Damen Avenue. However, a CBS News Chicago The investigation revealed that the police did not adhere to departmental guidelines and failed to independently confirm whether the address provided by the informant was accurate. In fact, the information turned out to be incorrect.

The investigation conducted by CBS News Chicago revealed that police entered the incorrect apartment, with the individual they intended to search for actually residing above them.

Even so, police superiors, an assistant state’s attorney, and a judge approved a search warrant containing an erroneous apartment number. Armed with this document, around 6:45 p.m. on November 7, 2017, multiple officers forcefully entered the family's residence.

In the past one and a half weeks since the trial began, the jury watched body camera footage from the raid. This included scenes taken outside before law enforcement entered the Mendez family’s apartment, shouting, “This is Chicago Police executing a search warrant!”

In the footage preceding the raid, an officer can be seen holding his rifle with a flashlight attached, aimed upwards towards Hester Mendez as she gazes out from her window.

Officer Joseph Cappello, who had the rifle with him, showed the jury his grip position to demonstrate that he did not aim it at anybody.

However, during other crucial instances documented in the body cam footage, the family’s legal representatives and specialists maintained that Cappello was indeed pointing the gun towards them.

The jury found out that Cappello and two additional officers failed to activate their body cameras when entering the structure as mandated, resulting in a period without any visual recording lasting several seconds.

The previous week, the Mendez family provided testimony at the U.S. District Court during their federal lawsuit proceedings. Seventeen-year-old Peter spoke out on Wednesday, reinforcing his statements. Weapons were aimed at him and his family.

In the body cam footage from the raid, Peter and Jack were overheard wailing and shrieking as officers cuffed their father facedown on the ground right before them.

At some point during the search, an officer can be heard on video admitting that the police have entered the incorrect apartment.Officers previously denied aiming firearms at individuals during the raid as mentioned in interviews conducted by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.

The body cam footage, as well as its absence, emerged as crucial evidence that was presented multiple times during the trial and in arguments made by lawyers representing both the city and the Mendez family.

Several witnesses were summoned to the stand, including specialists in law enforcement and child psychology. The family’s legal team aimed to persuade the jury that the raid caused enduring psychological harm to Peter and Jack, and argued that the Chicago Police Department has a history of employing overly aggressive tactics against minors.

As the city attorneys contended that aiming a gun couldn’t be discerned from the body cam footage, specialists called forth by the family disagreed. They pointed out specific instances within the recording where this claim falls apart. For instance, they noted an occasion where an officer’s forearm was positioned in what is known as “shooter stance.” This specialist asserted that such positioning mirrors how one would aim a rifle toward another individual. In their view, the officer exhibited precisely these actions towards the kids' dad while he lay restrained on the ground.

The disputes within the family have raised doubts about why some law enforcement officers neglected to activate their body cameras or chose not to wear them altogether, thus rendering it impossible to observe key moments during the raid.

Before dismissing the jury for the settlement discussion, they watched a video deposition from Davianna Simmons, who stated that the police aimed a firearm at her during a mistaken raid back in 2013 — an incident that occurred when she was merely 3 years old.

The city had previously reached an agreement with Davianna’s family for $2.5 million following the wrongful raid. Davianna was among numerous other individuals whose cases were presented to the jury, helping Mendez family lawyers demonstrate a recurring issue of excessive force used by the Chicago Police Department (CPD).

This proved exhausting for the Mendez family, but they feel relief now that the case has concluded. Following CBS News Chicago’s initial report, several reforms concerning search warrants were implemented. A legislation named after Peter.

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