Business owner slaps landlords with suit over alleged assault and battery

A man is suing over claims his landlords conspired to have him evicted in order to seize his business and then allegedly beat him.

Amer Lufti Hijazi, doing business as Amer Tel Cellular Inc., filed a lawsuit Oct. 23 in Cook County Circuit Court against Three Brothers Building Inc., and Basel, Sameer and Amin Ajij.

According to the complaint, Hijazi began negotiations with a third party to sell his self-proclaimed successful business in a space he rented from the defendants on North Kedzie Avenue.

Hijazi claims the defendants conspired to file a false complaint for his eviction in order to seize his business.

He further contends they conspired with one of his employees to hide the lawsuit from him until an order for possession was issued by the court, preventing him from being able to sell his business, which he asserts was in negotiations to sell for $240,000.

The complaint also states that on Oct. 8, when Hijazi became aware of the defendants' alleged conspiracy, he filed an emergency motion to set aside the order for possession, and on Oct. 16, the defendants retaliated against him by beating, assaulting and lacerating him.

Hijazi claims he sustained serious injuries and required an ambulance to escort him to the hospital. According to the lawsuit, in retaliation for the arrest of one of the defendants stemming from Oct. 16 assault, they conspired to have the plaintiff arrested on Oct. 18.

The defendants are accused of tortious interference with business relations, assault and battery and false imprisonment through false arrest.

Hijazi is seeking more than $390,000 in damages and is represented by attorney Richard F. Morton of Chicago.

Cook County Circuit Court case number: 2014L011004.

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 represents only one side of the story.