DuPage Settles Excessive Force Claims Against Sheriff Candidate

ELMHURST, IL – A man sued DuPage County a couple of years ago, alleging that two sheriff's deputies used excessive force at the county courthouse. He also said one of them used a racial slur.

Last fall, the county settled the federal lawsuit and others from the same man, 49-year-old Oswego resident George Taylor, for $19,000.

Subscribe

Of that money, $10,000 was for the incident involving two court security deputies, including Peter Coolidge. He is the Democratic sheriff candidate in November's election, facing Republican Sean Noonan.

In the settlement, the DuPage County Sheriff's Office admitted no liability.

Accounts of the incident vary. It occurred March 15, 2023, at the DuPage County Courthouse in Wheaton.

When he walked into the courthouse, Taylor's belongings contained three phones and two pocketknives. The deputies told him to bring them back to his car or place them in a locker.

Deputy Anthony Egan told Taylor, "I don't care what you do with them, take them to the car, throw them in the trash, but they ain't coming in here," according to both sides.

Taylor and Egan cursed at each other, and Egan tried to snatch one of Taylor's bags from his hand, according to the litigation filed by Taylor's attorney, Jordan Marsh.

Egan was then accused in the lawsuit of saying, "Get the f– out of here, (n-word)."

The county denied that allegation. (Egan is white, while Taylor and Coolidge are African American.)

The litigation said Egan dramatically took a piece of paper from Taylor's bag and threw it up in the air, in a clear attempt to provoke Taylor.

Egan then tried to grab Taylor's small backpack, prompting Taylor to take it back, the lawsuit said.

Egan then aggressively moved his body toward Taylor, according to court records.

Taylor said he feared an attack, so he struck Egan in the face with his backpack.

Coolidge tackled Taylor to the ground, with Taylor putting his hands behind his back, submitting to arrest, the lawsuit said.

Despite that, the litigation said Coolidge slammed Taylor's head onto the floor multiple times.

Next, Coolidge is alleged to have used his forearm and elbow to pin Taylor's head to the ground while he punched Taylor in the back repeatedly, the lawsuit said.

Egan was present, but did not stop Coolidge's assault, Taylor alleged.

After more than 40 seconds, Coolidge handcuffed Taylor and grabbed his neck and squeezed it while walking toward a glass wall, the lawsuit said.

Egan was alleged to have pinned Taylor against the glass wall while squeezing his neck for about 16 seconds.

The lawsuit said there was no reason to use force because Taylor never resisted arrest.

The county's response to the lawsuit denied the allegations about the use of force, such as slamming Taylor's head.

The deputies' reports said Taylor argued with them after they told him about the prohibited items.

Then, Taylor struck Egan in the face with the backpack, the reports said.

Coolidge said he took Taylor to the ground and handcuffed him.

Egan's report stated that Taylor threatened to "kick" Egan's "f–ing ass." Coolidge's report did not include the same allegation.

The deputy said the strike to his head caused him to have blurred vision.

When his vision returned to normal, Egan said he saw that Coolidge had Taylor on the ground.

Taylor was charged with battery, for which he was found guilty, according to court records. The documents indicate he was imprisoned for a time.

The federal judge in the case noted that he had seen the courthouse's video of the incident. This week, the sheriff's office declined to release the video, citing what it said was an exception under the state's open records law.

In a brief in August 2025, U.S. District Judge Manish Shah recounted what he saw in the courthouse video. The footage contained no audio and had a limited perspective, the judge said.

"About twenty seconds after the tackle, the video depicts movement in Coolidge's shoulders that could be consistent with Coolidge flipping Taylor from back to stomach or Taylor's account that Coolidge slammed and pushed his head to the ground," Shah said.

A half minute later, Shah said, the video shows Coolidge lifting his left arm, which could be consistent with Coolidge applying handcuffs or Taylor's account that Coolidge punched his head and hit the side of his body.

"Without conclusive video evidence, a reasonable jury could accept Taylor's account that Deputy Coolidge slammed, pushed, punched, and hit Taylor during the arrest," the judge said.

Shah rejected the county's request to throw out the lawsuit. He said it could go to trial.

Less than two months later, the county settled with Taylor.

Coolidge, Egan and Sheriff James Mendrick did not return messages for comment from last week.