Attorneys For Man Beaten By Jail Guard Say Investigation Was Intentionally Delayed
By Kirsten Onsgard in News on Aug 1, 2016 9:15PM
Attorneys for a man who was beaten by a guard in Cook County Jail say that investigators intentionally delayed looking into the 2014 incident in hopes it would disappear under the statute of limitations.
29-year-old Litroy Bolton was beaten by a jail guard more than two years ago after he refused to enter a cell occupied by an inmate “under quarantine,” or presumably infected with a communicable disease, according to a lawsuit filed in May. Officer Miguel Ortiz then forced Bolton to the ground and beat him in an incident captured by security footage.
“Even after additional correctional officers intervened to handcuff Mr. Bolton, and despite the fact that Mr. Bolton never once resisted any of the Defendant Officers, the video shows Officer Ortiz partially lifting Mr. Bolton off the ground and slamming his head and upper torso into the concrete floor,” according to the lawsuit.
Bolton, who was detained at Cook County Jail in 2014 for marijuana charges that were later dismissed, spoke out for the first time Monday during a news conference, during which he described feeling “helpless, defenseless.”
“Like I couldn’t do nothing, was nothing going to happen about this, ain’t nothing going to never ever happen, and they just going to beat me up, and they’re going to get away with it,” he said, according to CBS.
Bolton’s attorneys Vince Field and Cindy Tsai of Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law—the same practice that obtained the dashcam footage for the Laquan McDonald case—allege that the Cook County Office of Professional Review intentionally dragged its feet in investigating the case in order to ensure Bolton couldn’t file a lawsuit.
Investigators found that Ortiz used excessive force late last year, but it wasn’t until four months later that the Cook County Sheriff’s Office moved to fire him. Criminal charges were approved last week.
"The question is, in this case, why did it take so long to do so?" Field asked, according to the Tribune.
Ortiz has a history of using excessive force against inmates. A Freedom of Information Act request showed Ortiz assaulted 10 other inmates from the time of the attack on Bolton until he was fired, Field said.
Officers with the Cook County Office of Professional Review are also implicated in the lawsuit, because they “allegedly gave blatantly false, official reports of the contents of the jail videos before the court forced their release,” according to the complaint. Bolton’s attorneys also allege that jail guards destroyed physical evidence of the incident.
During the press conference Monday, Bolton—who cradled his 9-month-old son—said he was hopeful this case would prevent future harm.