Total Injury

A woman’s claims that she was a victim of Chicago police brutality last summer and her subsequent personal injury lawsuit seeking damages for her medical bills was the top story on several news broadcasts last night. Freelance photographer Dolores Robare has alleged that she was beaten by two Chicago police officers and two Cook County Sheriff’s deputies following an altercation last August. The incident left Robare with a broken nose, severely bruised and swollen face, and injuries to her head and knees. Robare’s Chicago personal injury attorney said in a press conference yesterday that his client’s lawsuit is not an attempt to capitalize off recent controversies surrounding alleged Chicago police brutality, including a nationally broadcast video of an off-duty officer beating a female bartender in a bar in the city.

The 52-year-old Robare is filing suit against Cook County Sheriff’s deputies John Darge and Margie Sullivan and Chicago police officers Michael Musznsky and Josephine Christopher. According to the personal injury lawsuit, Robare was walking across a street last summer when she was almost hit by a car driven by Sheriff’s Deputy Darge. When she objected to a request for her driver’s license, that’s when Robare alleges that the situation got out of control.

According to the lawsuit, Darge grabbed Robare, handcuffed her arms, wrapped his arm around her neck and then threw her to the ground. As she tried to get up, Robare said the officer kept pushing her to the ground, which ultimately contributed to her personal injuries that required treatment at a hospital. In a report filed after the incident, the officers claimed that Robare was drunk and attacked them. The officers said that she was thus injured when they responded to her alleged actions.

Robare’s attorney, Lawrence Jackowiak, admitted that his client had a few drinks the day of the incident but said that she was not drunk. He countered the police officer’s claims that a drunken Robare attacked them by saying that she would have been charged with a crime and one of the officers would have been injured if those allegations were true. He added that this lawsuit was filed eight months after the incident not because of recent controversies involving alleged Chicago police brutality but rather because it took him a long time to get the names of the officers.

Jackowiak added that there was no justificiation for such alleged beatings, even if Robare was drunk. Robare expressed distress that she was being blamed for the incident. Watch an ABC-7 News report of the civil lawsuit here, and we’ll keep you updated on any developments surrounding this case of alleged Chicago police brutality.