A Chicago man who
was arrested and charged
with prostitution and
possession of a controlled substance has filed a
federal civil lawsuit against five officers,
alleging that he was
unlawfully
arrested, prosecuted,, and defamed,
reports the Chicago Free Press.
The complaint
says Dion Contreras of Chicago was in front of a gay bar in
the Lakeview neighborhood when an undercover officer
in an unmarked car approached him and said, "I'll
give you $20 for a blow job." Contreras offered
to do it for free, which forced the officer to
either accept the encounter or decline and blow his cover.
That's when the officer called in four other officers
to make the arrest.
Once Contreras
was taken to police headquarters, he was searched, found
to be carrying a small amount of cocaine, and jailed for two
days. Police then sent a copy of the charges to the
Illinois Criminal Justice Information
Authority, where Contreras works. Initially he
was placed on administrative leave, but he
was later suspended pending a review of the incident.
Contreras's
lawyer, Brendan Shiller, claims his client was the
innocent victim of a larger sting operation.
"They outed him to his
employer, then told them that he was a
criminal," said Shiller.
The Free
Press reports that both the prostitution charge
and the possession charge
against Contreras
were eventually dropped
.
In the meantime, Contreras has been
unable to return to work while his employer continues with
an inquiry.
The lawsuit seeks compensation
for mental, emotional, and physical damages,
lost wages, legal fees, traumas, humiliation, loss
of liberty, and mental distress and anguish.
(The Advocate)
