Lawsuit accuses Riverdale police of excessive force

A Riverdale man is suing two police officers and the south suburban village, claiming officers used excessive force during a February arrest that was unjustified.

On Feb. 5, Abraham Carmichael was having work done on his car in an alley between School Street and Atlantic Avenue when two Riverdale police officers blocked the alley and arrived to arrest a man Carmichael did not know.

When Carmichael questioned what was happening, he was shoved against the hood of a vehicle.

The suit — filed Oct. 3 — alleges one of the officers elbowed Carmichael in the face and head, kneed him in the ribs and and punched him in the face without provocation while the other watched.

Carmichael's lawyers obtained video of the arrest, recorded by a dashboard-mounted camera. It shows an officer hitting Carmichael while his hands were behind his back.

In the video, Carmichael can he heard asking officers: "What did I do wrong?"

The officers then handcuffed Carmichael and placed him in custody. The lawsuit alleges that arrest was made without probable cause.

Carmichael's injuries were severe, according to the lawsuit, and he wants to be compensated for the "violations of his constitutional rights, emotional anxiety, fear, humiliation, monetary loss, pain and suffering, and future pain and suffering."

Criminal charges against Carmichael were dropped.

The Riverdale Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.