Joliet Officer Who Tackled Konika Morrow Faces Federal Suit

JOLIET, IL — A 41-year-old woman from Joliet has filed a federal lawsuit accusing Joliet Police Officer Adam Stapleton of using excessive force in connection with her controversial arrest last summer on Joliet's southeast side.

Chicago attorney Victor Henderson of Henderson Parks filed the federal lawsuit against the city of Joliet, Stapleton, Officer Alan Vertin and Sgt. Javier Esqueda, the on-duty supervisor during the evening of July 9, 2019.

Plaintiff Konika Morrow is a 41-year-old African-American woman from Joliet who was attending a prayer vigil near the corner of South Ottawa and McDonough Streets that got broken up by Joliet police, her lawyer contends.

"As police officers arrived, Ms. Morrow verbally protested the officers' decision to tow her nephew's motorcycle," her lawsuit states. Eventually, Joliet police told everyone near the motorcycle to step back and Morrow complied, her lawyer noted.

"Then, out of nowhere, Officer Stapleton tackled Ms. Morrow to the ground, pushed her over a curb, and injured her knee. Officer Stapleton forcibly turned Ms. Morrow on her stomach and handcuffed her," her excessive force lawsuit contends.

"Because of Officer Stapleton's actions, Ms. Morrow suffered personal and pecuniary injures, including a tear in her meniscus, which will require surgery and rehabilitation."

Not only was his client injured, Henderson contends, but Joliet's officers conspired to bring bogus criminal charges against Morrow. She was formally charged with obstructing Officer Vertin from carrying out his duties, the lawsuit indicates.

"Officer Stapleton shouted in Ms. Morrow's face, 'When an officer says back up, back up and do not talk back.' Officer Stapleton attempted to put Ms. Morrow in the back of a police vehicle, but Ms. Morrow reiterated that she was injured and asked for an ambulance," the lawsuit states.

The Chicago law firm for Morrow maintains that Stapleton "had no probable cause or reasonable suspicion to seize Ms. Morrow. No reasonable officer would have believed that Ms. Morrow had committed a crime, planned to commit a crime, or posed a danger to any officer or other person."

At the scene, Sgt. Javier Esqueda approached Morrow after she told him she needed an ambulance, court records show.

"In a mocking voice, Sergeant Esqueda, said 'Get the baby an ambulance,'" the plaintiff's lawyer noted. "While waiting for an ambulance, Ms. Morrow witnessed another officer tell Officer Stapleton, 'Good job,' and saw the two officers congratulate each other."

The federal lawsuit maintains that race was a key factor in why the Joliet police officers acted the way they did toward Morrow last summer. The incident of Morrow being tackled and arrested by Stapleton became the subject of a YouTube video.

"Ms. Morrow, Joshua (Cooley), and the other civilians at the vigil are African-American," her lawyer noted. "Officers Stapleton and Vertin, along with the majority of the officers who arrived at the vigil, are white ... Defendants agreed, upon information and belief, to cover up Officer Stapleton's wrongful takedown of Ms. Morrow by creating a false report and charging Ms. Morrow."

During a summer 2019 interview with Joliet Patch, Morrow said she expects to be vindicated in the Will County judicial system. The Will County State's Attorney's Office is pursing formal charges against her for obstruction of justice. Her criminal case has yet to go trial.

Stapleton is now the key defendant in two unrelated federal lawsuits against the city of Joliet. He was responsible for shooting James Pacheco during a late night traffic stop in 2012. Pacheco survived the ordeal, and his lawyer Jeff Tomczak is seeking a federal jury verdict of more than $1 million in connection with that case. The city of Joliet has already spent at least $250,000 in outside legal bills in the Pacheco lawsuit.