Elmhurst Settles With Man Who Bit Cop: Records

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst has settled a lawsuit filed by a man who pleaded guilty last fall to biting an Elmhurst police officer.

On Monday, the City Council unanimously approved a settlement with Downers Grove resident David T. Gibson. He sued the city and officers Daniel Torza and Daniel Corrigan.

The city did not release details on the agreement. Patch filed a public records request.

On Dec. 28, 2020, Elmhurst police were called to Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove because Gibson, a patient, reported being shot in Elmhurst.

According to a police report, Gibson, then 27, said he was buying a gun when he was shot in Elmhurst. Gibson told officers he was not allowed to have a gun because he was a felon, the report said.

One of the officers, a detective, informed Gibson that the police would seek warrants for his phone and car. Then the detective picked up Gibson's phone and said he was seizing it, according to the report.

Gibson grabbed the phone from the detective's hand, and the two officers tried to get it back. The detective asked hospital staff to contact security as they struggled to get the phone, police said. During the scuffle, Gibson bit the detective's forearm, police said. Security arrived and pulled Gibson off of the bed.

In a later interview, Gibson told officers he shot himself with a .40-caliber gun, which malfunctioned while he was cleaning it in his room at the Extended Stay America hotel in Downers Grove. He said he was in his wheelchair when it happened.

According to the report, physical evidence showed Gibson had shot himself. Police also found three guns in Gibson's home, the report said.

Gibson's lawsuit said the officers struck and grabbed Gibson and threw him out of his wheelchair, seriously injuring him.

The two-page lawsuit said the attack was unprovoked and unjustified. The officers' actions violated Gibson's right to be free from unlawful use of force, the lawsuit said.

As part of a plea deal last October, Gibson pleaded guilty in DuPage County Court to aggravated battery. In return, prosecutors dropped one count of filing a false police report and three counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.