A former
Des Plaines police officer fired for using excessive force against detainees
doesn't have to be rehired, a Cook County judge has ruled.
John
Bueno, a 10-year veteran of the police department, was terminated in March
2012, following an internal city investigation that found he violated the
city's policy for use of force, failed to disclose his use of force, and lied
about it during the investigati
An
arbitrator determined that Bueno violated the department's rules and
regulations but decided he should only be given a 15-month suspension, while
also placing other conditions upon his return to duty.
The
arbitrator said Bueno could return to work June 3.
The city
went to court to challenge the arbitrator's decision that Bueno should get his
job back, and last Friday, Cook County circuit court Judge Sophia Hall ruled in
favor of the city, city officials said Monday.
City
Manager Mike Bartholomew said it would have been "bad public policy"
had Bueno been allowed to return to his police beat, creating a morale issue
for the police department and a liability issue for the city.
"We
couldn't put him back on the street. His credibility would be terrible. All of
his arrests would be undermined (in court)," Bartholomew said.
Keith
Karlson, an attorney for the Metropolitan Alliance of Police, the union
representing Bueno against his dismissal, said in an email Monday night that
the "city's celebration is premature."
"The
judge's most recent decision is not final and the parties are still arguing the
case before the court," Karlson said. "The judge's most recent
decision does not undo the city's approval of Officer Bueno's actions at the
time; nor does the preliminary decision change the fact that the city destroyed
evidence essential to the officer's defense."
"The
union still believes the arbitrator's award is appropriate and should be
affirmed."
City
officials said Bueno's dismissal stemmed from his handling of the Aug. 12,
2010, arrest of Sergio Toutges, who said he was intimidated, threatened and
punched in the face by Bueno as he was handcuffed in the back seat of Bueno's
squad car. Bueno and another officer were transporting Toutges from the
Elmhurst police station to Des Plaines after Toutges was picked up on an arrest
warrant for attempting to run over an officer.
Toutges
filed suit against the city in federal court in which Bueno was also named as a
defendant, but the case was settled out of court earlier this year for $64,000.
Bueno was
also named as a defendant in a 2009 federal lawsuit filed by a resident who
said she was falsely arrested and mistreated by three police officers,
including Bueno. The city settled that case for $32,500 last year.
Meanwhile,
Bueno filed a federal suit earlier this year against the city in which he
alleges a superior officer made "unwelcome, humiliating and offensive
racial slurs and anti-Hispanic comments and misconduct." That suit is
still pending.