Chicago Tribune: Oak Lawn settles lawsuit accusing police officer of beating teen in July 2022
The Oak Lawn Village Board voted Tuesday to settle two lawsuits, one involving the July 2022 violent arrest of a then 17-year-old Bridgeview teen that led to criminal charges against a village police officer.
The village agreed to pay $825,000 to the teen who was allegedly struck more than 10 times in the face and head as he was lying face down in the street during his arrest, captured on video.
Officer Patrick O’Donnell was indicted in February 2023 and pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated battery and official misconduct during the arrest.
The charges were dropped in December 2024, after Eileen O’Neill Burke took over as Cook County state’s attorney, leading to protests from members of the Arab American community.
A separate federal lawsuit against Oak Lawn police was put on pause while O’Donnell’s criminal case proceeded but aimed to hold him, Officers Mark Hollingsworth and Brandon Collins, and the village accountable for claims of excessive force and failure to intervene along with state law claims of battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and willful and wanton conduct.
The Village Board voted 6-0 to approve the $825,000 settlement due to pressure from its insurance carrier, “not because of the merits of the case,” the village said in a news release Tuesday. The village will pay $250,000 out-of-pocket, with the insurance carrier covering the remainder, the village said.
“Although no member of the board wanted to settle, the reality is that we’re operating in a climate where certain elected officials are openly criticizing law enforcement and pursuing criminal charges against our officers,” Mayor Terry Vorderer said in the release. “We had to consider the broader consequences and act accordingly. This settlement puts the entire matter behind us and finds no fault in the actions of the police department.”
The village described the 2022 arrest of the teen as having resulted from a traffic stop “on a vehicle that was emanating a strong odor of burnt cannabis, had a cracked windshield and that was missing a front license plate,” according to the release.
Instead of following lawful orders, the village said, the teen fled the scene while concealing a loaded handgun, leading the officers involved to tackle him while he continued to resist arrest until he was subdued and the gun was recovered.
Several Oak Lawn police officers and others guard and block the media from fellow police Officer Patrick O'Donnell, center, as he exits the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago on March 1, 2023, after pleading not guilty to charges including aggravated battery and official misconduct (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
“This is what happens when people treat offenders like victims and police like perpetrators,” 6th District Trustee Ralph Soch said. “Unless we recognize the consequences of that approach and correct course, we will continue to see more situations like this.”
According to a statement on behalf of the attorneys from Romanucci and Blandin and Abdallah Law, representing the plaintiff, the settlement serves as “important accountability” for the Oak Lawn officers’ handling of the former teenager’s arrest.
“Three white officers using closed fist blows to the head to this Palestinian-American teenager was wholly unreasonable and should never have been used when other tactics were readily available,” the attorneys said. “This egregious behavior was unreasonable and over-the-top, and it is our hope that the Oak Lawn Police are more mindful going forward of their responsibility of reasonable conduct when engaging with all members of the community.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, which filed the original lawsuit alongside Abdallah Law, said in a statement Monday the three officers who apprehended the teen “engaged in extreme and outrageous conduct” and the village created a false narrative to justify their actions.
“We are deeply concerned that a settlement may allow the officers and the village to evade meaningful accountability,” CAIR communications coordinator Jordan Esparza-Kelley said. “This is not just about justice … it is about preserving public trust and ensuring that taxpayer dollars are not used to shield law enforcement from consequences.”