CHICAGO (CN) - Cicero police shot a man in the back as he rode a bicycle and let him bleed to death, then planted a gun by him, "threatened to kill" a witness, and intimidated and arrested other witnesses, the dead man's father claims in Federal Court.
G. Cesar Munive, father of the late son Cesar Munive, sued the Town of Cicero, its "police Officer Schullo" and other unknown Cicero police officers for conspiracy, recklessness, excessive force and other charges.
The complaint does not state how old Cesar was.
It states: "On Thursday, July 5, 2012, at approximately 7:00 p.m., Cesar Munive was riding his bike at the corner of 13th Street and 57th Avenue in Cicero.
"A Cicero police officer, believed to be defendant Officer Schullo, drove on 57th Avenue, in a police vehicle at a high rate of speed, and pulled onto the curb and parkway at the corner of 13th Street and 57th Avenue. He jumped out of his car and without lawful cause or justification shot the unarmed decedent, Cesar Munive, once in the back. After being shot the decedent screamed in pain and yelled that he had not done anything. The decedent fell down to the grass, bleeding. As Mr. Munive lay on the ground bleeding, the defendant officers forcefully handcuffed him with his hands behind his back and dragged him on the ground and delayed seeking medical attention.
As a result of defendant Schullo's unlawful use of force, Cesar Munive suffered pain during his last conscious moments.
"The fatal police shooting was totally unjustified. Mr. Munive never did anything which could have justified the use of deadly force."
Munive says his son "bled to death on the scene."
And he says that was not the end of the police abuse/
"Following the shooting, Defendant Schullo and other unknown members of the Cicero Police Department took actions designed to conceal and cover up the fact that Defendant Schullo shot an unarmed citizen, including planting a weapon at the shooting site and engaging in a pattern of intimidating witnesses, arresting witnesses without cause, calling witnesses on the telephone in the middle of the night, shining lasers into the windows of the home of a witness, Pedro Dominguez, threatening to kill Mr. Dominguez, and stopping vehicles and detaining relatives approaching Mr. Dominquez's home," the complaint states.
CBS News reported the night of the shooting that Cicero police shot a suspected gang member after police broke up a gang fight and a fleeing gang member pointed a gun at an officer.
Munive adds: "The misconduct described ... was undertaken pursuant to the policy and practice of the Cicero Police Department in that:
"a. As a matter of both policy and practice, the Cicero Police Department directly encourages, and is thereby the moving force behind, the very type of constitutional violation at issue here by failing to adequately train in the use of excessive force, including deadly force, and failing to supervise and control its officers, such that its failure to do so manifests deliberate indifference.
"b. As a matter of both policy and practice, the department facilitates the very type o of constitutional violation at issue here by failing to adequately punish and discipline prior instances of misconduct, including 'repeater' offenders who exhibit patterns of abuse and misconduct, thereby leading Cicero Police Department officers to believe that their actions will never be scrutinized and, in that way, directly encouraging future abuses such as those affecting decedent and plaintiff."
Munive seeks punitive damages. He is represented by Daniel Stohr.
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