Civil Rights Suit Against Elmhurst Proceeds

ELMHURST, IL — A civil rights lawsuit against the city of Elmhurst in connection with a man's June 2018 arrest is moving ahead.

Last month, a federal judge decided to allow Elmhurst resident John Messino's lawsuit to proceed on the counts of unreasonable seizure and malicious prosecution. The judge threw out Messino's count of unreasonable detention.

In the lawsuit, Messino, now 41, alleged Officer Jason Krueger lacked probable cause in arresting him at his house in the 500 block of North Walnut Street.

Krueger was called to Walnut Street after a neighbor told police that Messino had driven over a wooden marker stake and into bushes on a city right-of-way as he was leaving his house, police said.

When the officer was at the neighbor's house, Messino returned in his pickup truck. The officer then went to Messino's door.

The officer asked for Messino's identification, and Messino provided his revoked driver's license and restricted driver's permit.

The permit allowed him to drive to and from work at CVS Pharmacy in Glendale Heights and to obtain repairs and maintenance for his car. But the city said it did not let Messino take a trip to get gas. Messino was arrested on a charge of violating his driver's permit. Krueger told Messino the arrest would ruin his job and the rest of his life, Messino's lawyer said in court documents.

In a brief, Messino's lawyer said his client was going to work, but stopped to get gas along the way. Then he realized he had left his cellphone at home, the attorney said.

Messino was not scheduled to go to work until 2 p.m. Police spoke with him about 10:30 a.m. But his lawyer said Messino's supervisor had called him to work early. As evidence, Messino was wearing his CVS Pharmacy uniform when he was arrested, his attorney said.

Based on the terms of Messino's permit, Krueger had probable cause to arrest him, the city said.

"Officer Krueger did not need to take further action to determine if (Messino) was within the implicit or assumed conditions of his restricted driver's permit," the city's attorney, Andrew Acker, said in documents. "Officer Krueger did not need to determine whether driving to or from a gas station, or retrieving one's cell phone, was authorized by the restricted driver's permit before having probable cause to arrest (Messino)."

But Messino's lawyer, Garrett Browne, said the officer should have confirmed his client's work hours before arresting him. Messino told the officer that he was getting ready to go to work, Browne said.

The city said Krueger attempted to activate his body-worn microphone for his encounter with Messino, but for some reason it did not turn on.

No trial date has been set.