Oak Lawn Cop Indicted For Punching Teen Released On $75,000 I-Bond

OAK LAWN, IL — An Oak Lawn police officer, indicted last month on charges that he used excessive force in the arrest of a 17-year-old boy who had fled a traffic stop, entered a plea of not guilty during his arraignment hearing Wednesday morning.

Patrick O’Donnell, 32, appeared before Cook County Judge Domenica Stephenson on charges of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, aggravated battery in the public way, and official misconduct based on both felony charges. O’Donnell was one of three officers who chased down 17-year-old Hadi Abuatelah in July 2022 when he ran away from a traffic stop. The teen was later found to be armed with a loaded .25 caliber pistol, according to court documents submitted by Assistant State's Attorney Kathryn Sodetz.

The indictment was handed down Feb. 14 after Illinois State Police finished their review in January and turned over their findings to Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. The other two officers have not been charged. The arrest was captured on a citizen’s video and redacted dash-cam video released by Oak Lawn police the day after the citizen's video came to light. The videos drew outrage from the Arab American community, who claim the teen was being racially profiled.

According to the court document, which does not mention the citizen or police dash-cam videos, a vehicle Abuatelah was riding in was pulled over by O’Donnell in the early evening of July 27, 2022. The officer claimed he could smell marijuana wafting from the car’s windows with three juvenile occupants.

The driver stepped out and complied with the officer’s search, where nothing was found. Abuatelah, identified in the charging document by his initials “H.A.,” was asked to step out, who emerged from the car with a cross-body bag slung across the front of his body. As O’Donnell began his search, the prosecutor said the teen took off running.

O’Donnell yelled at the teen to stop and “get on the ground.” Oak Lawn Police Officer Brandon Collins arrived in his marked police vehicle, and then joined in the chase on foot. The prosecutor said Abuatelah was chased to the area of 9500 S. McVicker, where Collins took the teen “straight to ground.”

The teen lay on his left side with his bag near his body. He was ordered to put his hands behind his back, the prosecutor said.

Collins knelt behind Abuatelah’s back, on his lower back and legs, the complaint said. O’Donnell knelt in front of the teen’s face.

The Oak Lawn officers pulled Abuatelah’s arms, which the teen had pulled in near his torso, “in the area of his bag.” The prosecutor said Collins struck the teen about his right thigh, while O’Donnell pulled Abuatelah’s arms.

Next, according to the complaint, O’Donnell began striking the teen’s face, repeatedly with his right fist, as Collins pulled at Abuatelah’s arms. O’Donnell began striking the teen’s face repeatedly with his right fist as Collins pulled at the teen’s arms, the complaint said.

O’Donnell is also said to have used his left hand to hold the teen by his head and hair as he continued to punch Abuatelah in the face with his right fist.

Oak Lawn Officer Mark Hollingsworth arrived and knelt near the top of Abuatelah’s head, the prosecutor said. Hollingsworth applied a pressure point behind Abuatelah’s right earlobe, while Collins pulled at the teen’s arms and O’Donnell continued punching the teen’s face with his right fist, the prosecutor said.

The officers ordered the teen to put his hands behind his back, while the prosecutor said O’Donnell used his left hand to strike Abuatelah’s face and head.

“In total,” the court document said, “the defendant [O’Donnell] punched [Abuatelah’s] head and face more than ten times.”

Collins applied a taser in a “drive stun manner” to Abuatelah’s lower back. The teen rolled to his stomach and brought his left hand behind his back, while O’Donnell brought his right hand behind his back, when he was placed in handcuffs.

Police found a .25 caliber semi-automatic pistol loaded with three live rounds in the teen’s bag, which was “still strewn across his upper body.” Abuatelah was transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where he was treated for facial contusions and abrasions, a nasal bone fracture and subdural hemorrhage, according to the court document.

O’Donnell was released on a $75,000 I-bond. His next court date is April 6. If convicted, all four offenses are Class 3 felonies, punishable by probation or up to 2 to 5 years each in the Illinois Department of Corrections. The officer has been with the Oak Lawn Police Department since 2014.

Abuatelah has also been charged as juvenile with felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and resisting arrest. The teen’s case is said to still be ongoing. His family has filed a civil lawsuit in federal court on charges that Abuatelah's constitutional rights were violated.

Members of the Arab American community and community activists have been attending the Oak Lawn Police and Fire Commission meetings, where they have demanded that all three involved officers to be arrested and criminally charged. The activist group, the Arab American Action Network, have been distributing fliers to the community with instructions for calling Foxx’s office to demand that the three officers all be held accountable.