A federal civil rights lawsuit filed Monday accuses suspended Marengo police officer Scott Crawford of repeatedly abusing young people he arrested while his superiors in the police department ignored a growing list of complaints against him.
The 79-page suit, filed by two adult brothers and four teens, seeks about $30 million in compensatory and punitive damages from Crawford, former partner Kelly Given, former Marengo police Chief Larry Mason and the city of Marengo.
Marengo police Chief Les Kottke could not be reached for comment Monday. Mayor Donald Lockhart did not return a call for comment in time for publication. Crawford has declined numerous prior interview requests from the Daily Herald.
The suit stems from five separate incidents in 2003 and 2004 involving Crawford, including the arrests of brothers Kevin and Brian Gaughan during an Oct. 8 confrontation with the officer at a city festival. The incident ended with the Gaughans — Kevin, 19, of DeKalb and Brian, 22, of Marengo — jailed on felony aggravated battery charges accusing them of assaulting Crawford and another officer.
The suit, however, alleges Crawford perpetrated the violence that night, pushing a handcuffed Brian Gaughan face-first onto a paved parking lot, then slamming the man’s head into a wall inside the city’s police station.
“The defendant used physical force with the willful and specific intent to inflict unnecessary harm upon Brian Gaughan,” the suit states.
The lawsuit claims Crawford falsely arrested the Gaughans that night and trumped up the charges against them that have each facing up to five years in prison.
Two weeks before that incident, the suit alleges, Crawford and his partner physically abused 14-year-old Nichole Surber of Marengo while placing her under arrest for underage drinking. The suit contends both officers sat on the teenage girl, allowed a police dog to bite her arm unnecessarily and allowed her breasts to be exposed to a group of onlookers.
Crawford, the suit claims, then confined Surber for three hours and ignored her requests for medical attention for a lacerated arm and other injuries.
The suit alleges Crawford used excessive force against three others in 2003 and 2004:
•Steven Beisner, 17, of Marengo claims the officer slammed his head into a wall and punched him in the stomach during a June 2003 search.
•Cassandra Craft, 16, of Shorewood, Minn., alleges Crawford slammed her headfirst into a police car’s hood while twisting her arms behind her back in June 2004.
•Zachary McMackin, 17, of Marengo claims the officer emptied two cans of pepper spray into his face after a brief foot chase in November 2003.
While the suit seeks substantial financial compensation for the plaintiffs, their lawyer said Monday his clients’ primary goal is to prevent Crawford from being a cop.
“They want to stop Crawford from ever doing this again,” Chicago attorney Kevin E. O’Reilly said. “He’s clearly not suitable to be a police officer.”
Marengo police officials suspended Crawford, 26, earlier this year for three violations of department policy unrelated to the complaints in the lawsuit. Among the violations was lying on his job application. Crawford took a job in Marengo after resigning from the Waukegan police force in 2003 amid an investigation into his videotaped beating of a handcuffed suspect.
The suit lists the city and former Chief Larry Mason as defendants for hiring and retaining Crawford despite his checkered past and complaints against him during his time on the Marengo force.
“Either they knew of Crawford’s background and didn’t care or were completely reckless in doing background checks,” O’Reilly said.
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