A lawsuit filed in Chicago claims police officers physically and verbally abused the manager of a tanning salon and massage parlor during her arrest last year -- and much of the incident was caught on video. (Warning: There are multiple instances foul language.)
At one point, an officer can be heard asking to use his Taser on 32-year-old Jianqing “Jessica” Klyzek "10 fucking times," the lawsuit states.
At another, an officer threatens to "send you back to wherever the fuck you came from," according to video posted by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Klyzek is a naturalized U.S. citizen of Chinese origin.
The incident happened in July 2013. Police raided the Copper Tan and Spa after an undercover officer was allegedly offered a sex act by a masseuse.
When they arrived, the 5'2" and 110-pound manager does not appear to be especially cooperative, questioning police, arguing and pulling away. One officer yanks her from a hallway and into a corner, saying something that sounds like "You don't listen very well," the video shows.
She screams, and the Sun-Times said officers claimed she scratched and bit them.
However, the lawsuit claims an officer placed his hands over her nose and mouth, leaving her unable to breathe. In addition, the video shows a cop striking her in the head while she is on her knees, bent over and handcuffed. The lawsuit complains that she suffered "scratches and abrasions on her neck, bruising on her right forearm, an abrasion on her left elbow, bruising on both her thighs and an abrasion on her right knee."
The lawsuit highlights an exchange with an officer identified as Gerald Di Pasquale:
Defendant DI PASQUALE: You’re not fucking American! I’ll put you in a UPS box and send you back to wherever the fuck you came from!
Plaintiff: I’m a citizen, OK?
Defendant DI PASQUALE: No you’re not! No, you’re not a citizen! No, you’re not! No, you’re not! You’re here on our borrowed time. So mind your fucking business before I shut this whole fucking place down. And I’ll take this place and then whoever owns it will fucking kill you because they don’t care about you, OK? I’ll take this building. You’ll be dead and your family will be dead
Eventually, the cops seem to realize they're on camera. The lawsuit claims officers tried to look for the recording, but didn't find it because the video was stored off-site.
Attorney Torreya Hamilton said Klyzek was treated as if “she was less than human” and the officers should be fired.
“I can’t see how they have any business wearing the uniform,” Hamilton was quoted as saying by the Chicago Tribune. “She was handcuffed and sitting on the ground and was struck from behind ... This was not reasonable force.”
Klyzek was charged with aggravated battery as a result of the incident, but those charged were later dismissed by a judge.
Police say they're investigating the incident.
"The alleged conduct and comments are reprehensible and completely intolerable in our police department," spokesman Adam Collins was quoted as saying by NBC Chicago. "We have codes of conduct that apply to officers and if the allegations are proven accurate, appropriate action will be taken."
The Tribune reports that two of the officers in the case were accused of abusing an immigrant in a previous lawsuit. That suit, stemming from a 2008 prostitution sting, was settled out of court, the paper said.
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