A former
Des Plaines deputy police chief has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of
Des Plaines, Mayor Marty Moylan, former Police Chief Jim Prandini and former
City Manager Jason Slowinski in federal court, alleging they covered up police
brutality.
In the
complaint filed Tuesday, former Deputy Chief Richard Rozkuszka claims he was
forced out of the police department on Aug. 15, 2011, for reporting the
misconduct of now fired police officer John Bueno, who was under Rozkuszka's
supervision as the overseer of tactical operations.
The suit
states that Rozkuszka received reports from other officers within the
department that Bueno "repeatedly engaged in violent and improper conduct
while on duty, including beating incarcerated arrestees while in custody, and
in some circumstances, while handcuffed."
Rozkuszka
reported Bueno's misconduct to Prandini, who ignored it and threatened to
discipline Rozkuszka if he took action against Bueno, the suit alleges.
Moylan
said Thursday Rozkuszka's allegations about city administration covering up
officers' misconduct are "preposterous."
Among the
numerous examples of Bueno's misconduct the lawsuit alleges, Rozkuszka states
Bueno fabricated testimony about how evidence was recovered from a computer in
a missing child/child prostitution case, which was investigated by the Illinois
Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in the summer of 2009.
Rozkuszka
claims he cooperated in the state's investigation against Bueno and that he was
later criticized by Prandini for providing negative testimony against Bueno and
warned that if he discussed police misconduct with outside agencies, he would
be disciplined.
Also in
the summer of 2009, Rozkuszka alleges Bueno "violently beat" an
inmate in police custody without justification and Prandini again refused to
punish him.
"The
city of Des Plaines adopted a custom, policy or practice of condoning illegal
conduct and the beating of prisoners, and of engaging in a cover-up to hide
illegal conduct as well as to punish whistle-blowers for speaking out against
such illegal practices," Rozkuszka alleges in the lawsuit.
Rozkuszka
claims he reported misconduct by Bueno on at least five occasions to Prandini
and was told to "drop it" or risk disciplinary action. He also claims
he threatened to report the police misconduct to the Cook County sheriff's
office, the Cook County state's attorney and Illinois State Police Public
Integrity Unit.
In the
complaint, Rozkuszka claims Prandini met with Slowinski and Moylan, who agreed
to fire Rozkuszka "because of his ongoing reporting to outside
agencies" of misconduct within the department, and to "cover up
Bueno's ongoing criminal activity in order to avoid lawsuits against the city
of Des Plaines by those Bueno had harmed."
Rozkuszka,
54, claims he was urged to "retire" after 29 years of service — 23
years with Des Plaines police department — making him ineligible for maximum
pension benefits.
"They
told me that I was going to either retire or be terminated but that I didn't
have a choice," Rozkuszka said in a written statement released by his
attorneys. "After they chilled my speech and threatened my livelihood,
they fired me for doing the right thing."
"We
never had any conversation of that type," Moylan said. "When we heard
that there may be some wrongdoings, we promptly contacted an outside law firm
and let them do their investigation. We didn't mess around with this."
The city
tapped the Rosemont law firm of Clark Baird Smith to conduct the investigation,
as a result of which Bueno was fired by the city in March for misconduct, while
a second officer — Andy Contreras, who also was accused in a suspect's beating
with Bueno — was disciplined and served a four-month suspension.
"Chief
Rozkuszka wasn't even cooperative, and even though he didn't cooperate, we
still took appropriate action," Moylan said.
He
insisted that Rozkuszka, who he said was looking for another job, was not
forced out, though he acknowledged there has been an overhaul of top management
at the police department since the allegations against Bueno and Contreras
surfaced.
Prandini
retired in December after taking leave for back surgery. Moylan would not say
whether he was asked to retire but added that ultimately the responsibility
rested on Prandini's shoulders.
"There's
been a lot of changes in the top administration and we feel it's for the
better," Moylan said. "As soon as the administration lost faith with
police management, they all moved on to other things. We feel we will have a
good police force in the end."
Prandini,
who lives in Mount Prospect, could not immediately be reached for comment
Thursday.
Slowinski
left the city in April to become Lake Zurich's village administrator. He could
not immediately be reached for comment.
The city,
Moylan, Slowinski and Prandini are charged with retaliation in violation of the
First Amendment; the city is charged with retaliatory discharge and violation
of the Illinois Whistleblower's Act.
Rozkuszka,
of Deerfield, is demanding a jury trial. He declined to talk to a reporter
Thursday under the advice of his attorneys, the Chicago law firm of Hunt and
Associates.
Two other
lawsuits have been filed over police conduct. Bueno and Contreras are named in
a federal lawsuit alleging they beat a Villa Park man while in police custody.
And Bueno and two other city cops are being sued in federal court by a Des
Plaines resident who is alleging false arrest. The city is a defendant in both
lawsuits.
Moylan
said the city won't pay for the legal defense of the officers accused of
misconduct, though it will represent Prandini as a former city employee.
"We
are not in the position to defend bad police officers," he said. "We
have a lot of good police officers on the force. We do not want the people
accused of wrongdoing to affect the good police officers."
Bueno is attempting
to get his job back and has filed a racial discrimination complaint against the
city with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
