$450,000 Payout: Joliet Police Federal Lawsuit Settled

JOLIET, IL— The city of Joliet has reached a $450,000 settlement with an Arlington Heights law firm that sued the Joliet Police Department in federal court accusing two city officers of unjustly arresting Joliet resident Elijah Manuel in 2011, Joliet Patch has learned.

In 2011, Manuel spent nearly two months inside the Will County Jail awaiting trial on erroneous drug charges before the Will County State's Attorney's Office dismissed the case, the lawsuit stated.

Besides the city of Joliet, Officers Terrence Gruber and Tom Conroy were named as defendants. Joliet Patch reached out to the city of Joliet's legal department for comment on the settlement, but city lawyers did not respond.

Back in March 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a pretrial ruling favorable to Manuel and his attorneys after hearing arguments on the city of Joliet case in October 2016.

One of Manuel's lead attorneys, Pam Simaga, declined comment when reached Tuesday.

Joliet Patch recently uncovered the $450,000 payout as a result of the Freedom of Information Act request to the city of Joliet. Patch requested any and all lawsuit settlements of at least $15,000 so far this year. Manuel's settlement was the only case in which Joliet has paid out more than $15,000, Patch determined. The settlement was signed Feb. 25.

According to the settlement terms, the city of Joliet made no admission of wrongdoing regarding the conduct and actions of its police officers named as defendants.

Manuel's lawyers argued that officers Gruber and Conroy had numerous interactions with their client prior to his unlawful arrest March 18, 2011, and "Conroy and Gruber have stopped the plaintiff on numerous occasions without justification."

"Defendants Conroy and Gruber have harassed the plaintiff on several occasions to and subsequent to March 18, 2011," argued Arlington Heights attorney Stanley Eisenhammer of the law firm Hodges, Loizzi, Eisenhammer, Rodick and Kohn.

On March 18, 2011, Manuel was sitting on the passenger side of his 2008 Dodge Charger while his brother was in the driver's seat, according to the lawsuit.

Gruber stopped the vehicle and opened the passenger-side door even though Manuel did not consent to being searched, and Manuel had no outstanding arrest warrant, court records show.

"During the course of seizing the plaintiff, defendant Gruber forcefully removed the plaintiff from the vehicle," Manuel's lawsuit stated. "Defendant Gruber yelled something similar to: 'You remember me? I got you now you (expletive) (racial slur)."

At that point, Gruber pushed Manuel to the ground, the lawsuit stated.

"There was no legal cause for defendant Gruber to use force against the plaintiff," the lawsuit stated. "Defendant Gruber's use of unnecessary, unreasonable and excessive force injured the plaintiff, specifically the plaintiff sustained injuries to his back, head and hand."

During the traffic stop, Gruber seized a bottle of vitamins from Manuel, and those vitamins contained pills or capsules, not illegal drugs, according to court records.

Officer Conroy, the lawsuit contended, failed to take any action to protect Manuel from the force being used by his fellow officer.

The lawsuit also named six other Joliet officers as co-defendants: Sgt. Scott Cammack, Officer Aaron Bandy, Sgt. John Stefanski, Sgt. Joe Rosado, Officer Jeff German and Officer Jeff Kneller.

"The defendants on the scene were aware that the pills confiscated from the plaintiff's person were not a controlled substance," Manuel's lawyers argued. "The plaintiff is informed and believes and alleges ... that all named defendants lied about the results of the test and claimed that the test showed a positive result for a controlled substance."

According to the lawsuit, the pills confiscated from Manuel following the traffic stop were field-tested by officers at the scene and determined not to be a controlled substance.

In spite of that, Manuel was arrested by Joliet's police officers on felony charges of possession of controlled substances with intent to deliver.

Manuel was booked in the Will County Jail later and remained in the jail from March 18, 2011, until his release on May 4, 2011.

The lawsuit stated that the Illinois State Police conducted a laboratory test on the pills confiscated from Manuel by the Joliet Police Department and that those pills tested negative for being a controlled substance.

On May 4, 2011, the Will County State's Attorney's Office dismissed the felony drug charges against Manuel.

Lawyers for Manuel argued their client was harassed because he was a member of a minority.

"The Joliet Police Department ... is aware that their employees have a custom of stopping individuals, arresting individuals, and charging individuals on the basis of racial profiling," the Arlington Heights law firm asserted. "The Joliet Police Department is aware that their employees have a custom of using excessive force."

According to the Illinois Department of Corrections, Manuel was paroled in February from the Sheridan Correctional Center, where he was serving a 17-year prison sentence for a home invasion in New Lenox.

Court records indicate the Will County Sheriff's Office arrested Manuel for that crime in the summer of 2012; the home invasion occurred in July 2010.