Injured Teen In Oak Lawn Arrest Video Released To Parents' Custody

OAK LAWN, IL — Using a walker, the teen at the center of a violent arrest video walking out of the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center with his parents to the cheers of supporters following a court hearing Tuesday afternoon.

The teen was released to the custody of his parents after he appeared before a judge on felony charges of aggravated unlawful use of a gun and resisting arrest. The teen is also facing various misdemeanor charges.

A citizen’s video taken July 27 captured two Oak Lawn police officers repeatedly punching a prone. 17-year-old Hadi Abuadaleh on the ground, joined by a third officer who tased the teen. Police said the teen fled a traffic stop after a car he was riding in was stopped because it did not have a front registration plate and smelled of “burnt cannabis.” The teen was also found to be carrying a loaded gun in an accessory bag, police have said.

The Oak Lawn police officers maintain they were in fear for their lives because they believed the teen was carrying a firearm.

After being released from Advocate Christ Medical Center, where Abuadaleh has been hospitalized for injuries he suffered during his arrest. Oak Lawn police said Monday in a news release that the teen was taken to the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center at 1100 S. Hamilton, where he was held overnight after he was charged.

“This could have been done yesterday, but it wasn’t,” the teen’s attorney, Shady Yassin said at a news conference. “The right thing was done today, and he was released today.”

The purpose of Tuesday’s hearing was for the judge to decide whether Abuadaleh should be released to his parents or held in custody because he posed a threat to the community. Yassin said the Cook County State’s Attorney was doing its “due diligence” to determine if prosecutors wanted to move forward with the case to a detention hearing.

“We stand with Hadi. We stand against police brutality and all the injustices that police do to citizens in this country,” Yassin said during a news conference. “We stand with Hadi to the very end, and we pray for a positive result, and we pray for his health and well-being.”

The teen is said to be suffering brain bleeding, a broken nose, a broken pelvis and other injuries "some known, some unknown" as a result of his arrest. Despite being under police guard, the teen’s attorney said his parents spent as much time with their son as they could, and did not leave the hospital. Asked what it was like being held overnight in lock-up, Abuadaleh responded, “terrible.”

“Think how it would feel sitting in police custody, a 17-year-old who’s never been in trouble before,” Yassin said. “He’s been handcuffed to a bed when he was in the hospital and brought over here as if was a mass murderer with four officers surrounding him.”

The teen’s next court hearing is in three weeks.

“Our belief is the state’s attorney is investigating more closely because of the circumstances,” Yassin said.

Muhammad Sankari, lead organizer with the Arab American Action Network, said the “extreme excessive inhumane treatment” by the Oak Lawn Police Department would not go “overlooked.”

He called for the three officers involved in the teen’s arrest to be fire, terminated, and “prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” Sankari thanked the woman who recorded the teen’s violent arrest.

“What you see now is the shell of a teenager who has endured mental trauma, physical trauma and psychological trauma,” Sankari added.

A lawsuit has also been filed on Abuadaleh’s behalf in federal court naming the Oak Lawn Police Department and the three officers. The complaint maintains the officers “engaged in extreme and outrageous conduct” and violated the teen’s civil rights, which has drawn outrage from the Arab American community.

The Oak Lawn Police Department’s use of force in the teen’s arrest is being investigated by the Illinois State Police Independent Review.

In addition to the citizen’s video, Oak Lawn police also released their own redacted police dashboard camera video of the teen’s arrest at a news conference last week.

“As far as anything about the video you look at the police chief’s press release and his press conference, These are his own words when he said the video was edited,” Yassin said. “We’ll leave it at that right now.”