Mayor O'Dekirk, Joliet Police Sued For Actions On Night Of Riots

JOLIET, IL — Two lawyers from Chicago have filed a federal lawsuit against Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk, who is a former Joliet police officer, and unnamed officers at the Joliet Police Department, accusing them of false arrest/unlawful detention, failure to intervene, malicious prosecution, conspiracy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Victor Williams, a 23-year-old resident of Lockport, is being represented by Lawrence O'Reilly and Michael Baker. The lawyers filed their lawsuit about three weeks ago. In July, Williams walked out of the Will County Courthouse after learning that Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow opted not to file criminal charges against Williams, who was arrested by Joliet police on May 31, the night of Joliet street riots and looting across the city.

According to the Chicago lawyers for Williams, on May 31, "Defendant Mayor O’Dekirk grabbed plaintiff in and around the neck area and about the body and forcefully drove him backwards and subsequently threw him to the ground.

"At no time did plaintiff undertake any measures to provoke the encounter or actions which took him to the ground. Plaintiff had committed no crime, was unarmed, presented no threat to any person and was upon public land. There was no justification for the use of force against plaintiff."

(Joliet Patch article continues below this photo.)

The federal lawsuit on behalf of the Lockport man states that "after being thrown to the ground, and without justification, the defendant officers beat plaintiff about his head and body as he lay defenseless on the ground. After being beaten, plaintiff was arrested without lawful justification, handcuffed, placed inside a squadrol, and taken to the Joliet Police Department where he was charged with aggravated assault and mob action."

In numerous interviews this past summer, O'Dekirk has maintained he did nothing wrong and that he was simply defending himself after being attacked. That night, Joliet police broke up a Black Lives Matter demonstration outside the White Castle after the crowd become unruly and some people began hurling objects at the police officers and jumping on vehicles.

The incident involving the scuffle with O'Dekirk happened later in the night in the parking lot near the Speedway gas station.

When reached for comment on the Williams lawsuit, O'Dekirk had this to say to Joliet Patch on Friday: "These guys came to our city and participated in a riot and now they want to complain about me and the police."

Baker and O'Reilly, the lawyers for the Lockport resident, reminded the federal judiciary that criminal charges were dropped against their client July 2.

"Defendant O’Dekirk used inappropriate, unwarranted and unjustifiable force against plaintiff," their lawsuit argues. "Defendant O’Dekirk assaulted, battered and restrained plaintiff without lawful cause or justification. Defendant officers used inappropriate, unwarranted and unjustifiable force against plaintiff. Defendant officers assaulted, battered and restrained plaintiff without lawful cause or justification. Following the beating, the defendant officers falsely accused plaintiff of engaging in conduct which justified their actions."

In June, Patch reported that Mady Perez, who at times has been a frequent critic of O'Dekirk during Joliet City Council meetings, came to the mayor's defense on the night of the George Floyd demonstrations. Perez said that Joliet's mayor acted appropriately in the confrontation that led to the arrests of Williams and another African-American man.

"I hope and I pray that this situation will bring us all together to have those tough discussions," Perez told reporters in June. "Because, what I saw Sunday night was horrific. I've never, in my 20 years of being a resident of Joliet observed such aggression, such disrespect. I felt hopeless seeing this happen in front of me.

"Young people hanging out of their vehicles, screaming profanity, throwing water bottles, canned things, it was horrible. I've never seen J.P.D. be so violently attacked and the mayor be assaulted and then physically attacked, to the point where he was pushed to the ground, falling onto another citizen. It should never happen, it was horrible, and I think we as a community and all of our community activists need to come together in unity, with empathy, with an understanding, and have these conversations with our youth because it was not OK."

On the night of May 31, a total of 30 people, mostly Joliet area residents, were arrested in connection with looting, assault, criminal damage to property and other related offenses.

At least 10 Joliet businesses sustained significant damage, and the worst damage happened at Valle's Produce. The Mexican grocery store at 704 W. Jefferson St. was set on fire by people suspected of being involved with the late night street violence, authorities have said.