Former Elite Police Unit Faces New Misconduct Allegations

By Chuck Sudo in News on Mar 29, 2011 2:00PM

A civil lawsuit lists new allegations of misconduct regarding an elite police unit whose litany of bad behavior was so extensive that it was disbanded and served as one of the reasons for Mayor Daley to hire Jody Weis as Superintendent with a mandate of cleaning up the Department. The new allegations involve an illegal search of a home in the Hermosa neighborhood on the Northwest side in August 2005.

The new allegations center on Jose Fematt, who was 13 at the time. Members of the Special Operations Section broke into Fematt's apartment at the 2000 block of North Keeler as he was babysitting his sister. He was then handcuffed so tightly that his wrists swelled and driven around the neighborhood in a squad car, questioned about an upstairs neighbor the SOS suspected of being a drug dealer, and released, but not before being threatened by the police to not speak a word about what happened. The seizing of Fematt served its purpose, as the SOS went ahead and illegally searched the upstairs apartment of Eric Chagolla. Per the Tribune:

Records from the state's attorney's office show that on the day that Jose Fematt alleges he was terrorized by the police, several SOS officers illegally entered the Keeler residence, seized cocaine, marijuana and $91,800 in cash from Eric Chagolla, who often stayed in an upstairs apartment. The drugs were inventoried, but $90,000 in cash was allegedly stolen by the crew. (Charges against Chagolla were eventually dismissed.) Three officers named in the Fematt lawsuit — (Jerome) Finnigan, (Keith) Herrera and Margaret Hopkins — were charged in 2006 in Chagolla's arrest and home invasion, according to court records.

Seven former SOS members have pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the SOS scandal. Charges are still pending against Finnnigan, who's something of a real-life Vic Mackey and the suspected ringleader of the SOS's illegal activities. In addition to his SOS-related charges, Finnigan was indicted planning the murder of a fellow officer in a murder-for-hire plot. Finnnigan is currently defending himself in court and filed a handwritten motion to dismiss Fematt's suit, claiming it's "vague and broad in nature."