Man Trapped In Cook County Jail For 30 Hours Files Lawsuit

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jul 15, 2014 10:05PM

Farad Polk, the man who was trapped for 30 hours over the Independence Day holiday in a waiting room at Cook County Jail, filed a lawsuit against the county Monday and declared his ordeal one no one should have to endure.

Polk, as had been reported before, was at the jail July 5 for his weekly visit with his son who is awaiting trial on drug charges. But his son was moved to a different area of the jail with which Polk wasn’t familiar and wound up walking into an 8 foot by 8 foot waiting room used for super-maximum security prisoners that was undergoing renovations to, in the words of jail executive director Cara Smith, “make it more secure. The door, which was propped open and closed behind Polk. At the Monday news conference Polks said when he realized there was no buzzer to alert corrections officers he was trapped and wanted to leave, that’s when his ordeal began.

Polk’s attorney, Cannon Lambert, said the 30 hours “feels like 300” to his client. Polk said he had to pee on the floor while in the room, slept on the concrete floor and tried in vain to get the attention of guards he could hear on the other side of the wall before he broke off a sprinkler head to trigger a fire alarm and get him out of the room.

Polk and Lambert are most frustrated by the actions of correctional officers during Polk’s rescue, when he claims he was handcuffed and questioned to verify his story.

"I think it is a tragedy," he said. "I did as I was told, so I don't know how it could happen."

Lambert said Polk has had trouble adjusting after the incident. Polk added he’s trying to keep busy or else it’s all he can think about. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for physical, emotional and psychological injuries. Lambert and Polk previously filed a petition for discovery to determine the circumstances behind the incident.