CHICAGO (AP) - A tanning salon manager has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Chicago and several police officers claiming that the officers hit her and shouted racial threats during a raid on the business.
A copy of security camera video provided by the attorney for Jianqing “Jessica” Klyzek, 32, appears to show an officer strike Klyzek while she was handcuffed and another officer yelling insults, the Chicago Sun-Times reported (https://bit.ly/1n9Y2LT ).
The insults include an officer allegedly cursing, telling Klyzek she isn’t American and saying he would put Klyzek in a box and send her back to where she came from. The officer also allegedly tells Klyzek she’ll be killed and her family will be dead.
Klyzek is a naturalized U.S. citizen from China. She is heard screaming at police on the video.
“This city was built by immigrants, and in 2014 we’re treating them like this?” Klyzek’s attorney, Torreya Hamilton, said. “She’s never been arrested before and she hadn’t done anything wrong.”
Chicago Police Department spokesman Adam Collins said the Independent Police Review Authority is investigating.
“The alleged comments, if true, are reprehensible and completely intolerable in our police department,” Collins said. “We have codes of conduct that apply to officers, and if the allegations are proven accurate appropriate action will be taken.”
A police report states the 2013 raid was prompted when a masseuse allegedly offered an undercover officer a sex act. Court records show a salon worker was charged with prostitution in the rain and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor but the conviction was later expunged.
The lawsuit says charges were dismissed against Klyzek for scratching and punching the officers.
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Information from: Chicago Sun-Times, https://www.suntimes.com/index
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