Officers Accused of Using Excessive Force

An East Dundee Wal-Mart employee has sued the village and two of its police officers, claiming they used excessive force during a medical emergency last year by shocking him twice with a Taser gun and breaking his arm.

The complaint, filed earlier this week in U.S. District Court, does not name the police officers involved.

In the suit, Johnny E. Ward claims as a result of unlawful and excessive force he incurred mental, emotional and physical injuries, humiliation, medical and legal expenses and mental distress and anguish.

The seven-count suit seeks an unspecified amount in damages.

Ward says the incident occurred in the early morning hours of Oct. 17, 2007 as he was trying to leave his job at the Wal-Mart store on Dundee Avenue to get medication for a diabetic condition.

The complaint says that as an ambulance arrived to assist Ward, multiple officers in several police squad cars also pulled up to the store, even though store employees had not requested police assistance.

After Ward discussed his condition with paramedics, the complaint says, one of the officers shot him in the back with a Taser, knocking him to the ground. Ward hit his head on the ground as a result of the unprovoked use of force, the complaint says.

The suit says Ward then heard one of the police officers make a racially derogatory comment to another officer before pulling the Taser trigger again, administering a second shock.

Ward's left arm was broken when the officers handcuffed him behind his back and lifted him from the ground to the ambulance, the suit says.

He was taken to Sherman Hospital in Elgin where he was treated for a broken arm and other injuries. No report was completed documenting the police officers' use of force or use of the Taser device, the complaint says.

Calls to Ward's attorney, George Sachs, were not returned Wednesday.

East Dundee Police Chief Terry Mee said he had could not comment on the case because he had not yet seen the complaint.

Ward was not charged with violation of any law or ordinance.