Man sues city, two unknown police officers over alleged shooting

A man is suing the city over claims a police officer fired shots at him even though he presented no danger.

Angel Torres filed a lawsuit Sept. 22 in Cook County Circuit Court against the City of Chicago and two unknown Chicago police officers identified in the suit as Doe officers 1 and 2, alleging battery.

According to the complaint, Torres was operating his vehicle and turned down an alley near the intersection of Central Avenue on Roscoe Street on Sept. 21, 2013, when a police vehicle followed him.

Torres claims he stopped his car after the police vehicle turned on its emergency lights and then struck the back of his car, causing it to move forward onto Roscoe Street, where a second police vehicle was parked and an officer was on the street.

The suit alleges Torres steered his car away from the officer on Roscoe Street, but that the officer fired several bullets at him. Torres contends the officer was not in danger and that he was struck by a bullet in the back.

Torres, according to the complaint, then drove several blocks to his sister's house with the police following him, and when he parked the car, the officers approached him, held a gun to his head, threatened to shoot and dropped him to the ground multiple times.

He allegedly passed out and was taken to the hospital from the scene, the suit states. Torres accuses the defendants of battery and willful and wanton conduct.

Torres is seeking more than $50,000 in damages and is represented by attorneys Antonio M. Romanucci and Angela P. Kurtz of Romanucci & Blandin in Chicago.

Cook County Circuit Court case number: 2014L009897.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt and it only represents one side of the story.