Joliet Police Caused Eric Lurry's Death: Federal Lawsuit

JOLIET, IL— As promised last month, lawyers at Erickson & Oppenheimer have filed a federal deprivation of civil rights lawsuit against the city of Joliet in connection with the Jan. 29 in-custody death of Joliet Police Department prisoner Eric Lurry. The lawsuit also names as defendants Lt. Jeremy Harrison, Sgt. Doug May, veteran officer Jose Tellez and new recruit officer Andrew McCue.

"Defendant Harrison was the supervisor of Defendants May, McCue and Tellez," the federal lawsuit filed on behalf of Nicole Lurry contends. "Defendant Harrison was personally involved in depriving Mr. Lurry of his constitutional rights in that he facilitated, approved of and condoned the unreasonable force used against Mr. Lurry by Defendants May and McCue as set forth in Count IX of this Complaint."

According to the federal lawsuit, Eric Lurry and Kenan Kinney were pulled over by Joliet Police Officer Marcus Wietting near the intersection of Briggs Street and Washington Street at 3:12 p.m. Jan. 28. Officers McCue and Tellez arrived in their squad car minutes later.

"Defendant McCue performed a pat-down search of Mr. Lurry and found $1,380.00 in the front pockets of Mr. Lurry's pants," the lawsuit outlines. "During that search, Defendant McCue recovered no contraband or weapons of any kind on Eric Lurry's person or within Eric Lurry's immediate vicinity.

"Defendant McCue's search of Mr. Lurry's person did not produce any evidence that Mr.Lurry had committed or was in the process of committing a crime."

According to Erickson & Oppenheimer, a Joliet officer found an iPhone in Kenney's car, gave it to Lurry, returned the cash to Lurry and then allowed Lurry to leave the area without being arrested.

"While Mr. Lurry was walking away from the scene, Defendant Tellez re-initiated contact with Mr. Lurry and asked Mr. Lurry to return the iPhone," the lawsuit contends. "After Mr. Lurry returned the phone, Defendant Tellez retrieved and seized the currency from Lurry's front pant pockets and then proceeded to perform another pat-down search of Mr. Lurry’s body."

The plaintiff's lawyer, Abby Bakos, contends that Officer Tellez did not have any legal justification to do a second pat-down search of Lurry nor any legal justification for seizing Lurry's money. Afterward, Lurry was put in handcuffs, arrested and put into Officer McCue's squad car.

"When they arrived at the station, Lieutenant Harrison approached McCue's squad car to assess and monitor the situation," court records reflect.

Harrison was the supervisor for May, McCue and Tellez. The lawsuit indicates Sgt. May entered the rear of McCue's squad car at Lt. Harrison's direction. Lurry remained in his handcuffs.

"At that time, Defendants McCue, Tellez, May and Harrison immediately recognized that Mr. Lurry was in medical distress and not fully conscious," Erickson & Oppenheimer argues. "Despite Mr. Lurry’s obvious serious medical needs, no Defendant summoned medical attention for Mr. Lurry at that time. Instead, Defendants May and McCue attempted to retrieve bags containing narcotics from Mr. Lurry's mouth.

"In doing so, Defendant May pinched Mr. Lurry's nose for approximately close to two minutes, restricting him from taking in oxygen," the Chicago civil rights lawsuit outlines. " Defendant May also slapped Mr. Lurry in the face while saying, 'Wake up, bitch!'"

Next, McCue put a baton into Lurry's mouth at the direction of Lt. Harrison, court records indicate.

"Defendant McCue then reached in Mr. Lurry’s mouth to retrieve the narcotics and removed part of a plastic bag," court documents show. "Defendant McCue and May's conduct caused Mr. Lurry to ingest narcotics and suffocate."

The lawsuit also informs the federal judiciary that the interactions of Lt. Harrison, Sgt. May, Officer Tellez and rookie McCue "were captured and recorded by the squad car video camera and audio system.

"One or more Defendants edited, tampered with and/or destroyed the audio and/or video footage from the squad car video related to Mr. Lurry's arrest and detention in an attempt to destroy and conceal evidence of wrongdoing," the Chicago law firm argues.

"Additional cameras in and around the perimeter of the Joliet Police Station parking lot recorded portions of the incident set forth herein. These recordings captured relevant material evidence related to the death of Mr. Lurry and were not preserved by anyone at the Joliet Police Department," the lawyer states.

The lawsuit also points out that Joliet Police Sgt. Javier Esqueda, a 27-year veteran of the Joliet Police Department, came forward and obtained a copy of the squad car video and shared it with various news outlets because he was disturbed by Sgt. May and Officer McCue's conduct.

"Sgt. Esqueda also obtained and shared the video with various news outlets because he believed that the City of Joliet and/or employees of the Joliet Police Department, including Defendants, attempted to and/or had in fact, destroyed incriminating material evidence related to the death of Eric Lurry," the plaintiff's maintain. "In describing what he observed on the squad car video, Sgt. Esqueda said, "It was almost like the supervisor looks off and says something to somebody, and then you hear the sound cut out. That's what alerted me that possibly (the Joliet Police Department) were trying to get rid of evidence."