Activists in suburban Oak Lawn are expressing their outrage after charges were dropped against a police officer accused of official misconduct in connection to an altercation with a teen.
In that 2022 incident, the officer was seen on a bystander's video punching then-17-year-old Hadi Abuatelah in the head with a closed fist. The video also showed the teen being held by the head and hair while another officer knelt on his legs, with both officers shouting commands at him, prosecutors had alleged when charges were filed.
The officer, who had been charged with aggravated battery and official misconduct, had been set to go on trial, but on Wednesday Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke announced that her office would drop charges.
“After a thorough review, we concluded that the evidence is insufficient to meet our burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt to move forward with the prosecution of this case,” her office said in a statement. “Prosecutors must evaluate the evidence at every stage of a criminal proceeding, and act accordingly in the pursuit of justice. Throughout the pendency of this case, the CCSAO has been in communication with the victim, his family, and attorney as we sought an appropriate resolution. Today we asked the court to dismiss the case, and the court granted our motion.”
Numerous groups expressed outrage at the decision, including the Arab American Action Network.
“Today, a grave injustice has been committed against our community,” said Muhammad Sankari, AAAN’s lead organizer. “Instead of carrying out her duty to hold everyone accountable to the law, State’s Attorney Eileen Burke is returning the office to the old-style Chicago politics of backroom dealings and cover ups of misconduct, where one corrupt and guilty hand washes the other."
Abuatelah spent six days in a hospital for fractures to his face, skull and pelvis, as well as swelling of his brain. Attorneys for Abuatelah and his family sued the village in federal court alleging the teenager’s civil rights were abused.
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Oak Lawn Police Chief Daniel Vittorio defended the officer’s actions, saying Abuatelah had refused to follow the officers’ commands and that he was reaching for a shoulder bag that contained a loaded handgun.
“Once they feared that there was a weapon in there, that then turned into a deadly force incident,” he said after charges were filed in 2022. “So had the offender drawn that weapon, he could have shot him.”
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Abuatelah had been charged in juvenile court with illegal possession of a weapon.
In court hearings, the officer’s attorney James McKay claimed Abuatelah had been “trying to get that gun” and said his client and the other officers were lucky to have escaped the arrest with their lives.
Activists blasted those claims, and are now calling on Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul to investigate the department.
“A grave injustice was committed against our community,” Sankari said.
The officer involved in the case has been on administrative leave, and Oak Lawn police declined comment on the dismissal of criminal charges, citing the pending civil litigation.
