2nd Lawsuit For Alleged Christmas Police Beating Names 3 Bolingbrook Cops

A second federal lawsuit against three Bolingbrook cops was filed in connection with an alleged Christmas morning police beating.

Ricardo Espinoza, 30, sued police officers Richard Burdett, Joseph Cassidy and Sean Talbot.

Espinoza’s mother, 48-year-old Rosa Espinoza, and two sisters — Erika, 21, and Natalie, 14 — previously sued Burdett, Cassidy and Talbot, as well as four other officers, over the same 2013 incident.

Ricardo Espinoza claims the three officers used excessive force when they arrested him, and left him with a bloody gash to his forehead and a concussion.

In the lawsuit filed by Ricardo Espinoza’s mother and sister, his family claimed the cops illegally searched their home after breaking up a Christmas morning fight, then erased a cell phone video of their allegedly illicit doings.

Ricardo Espinoza’s father, Juan Espinoza, 50, said his family hosted a party for about 10 guests on Christmas Eve 2013. As the party wound down, he said, Ricardo began bothering his other son, Junior, 26.

The playful scuffle between Ricardo and Junior escalated into real violence, Juan said, and when he was unable to separate his sons, Rosa called the cops.

After officers arrived, Ricardo gave himself up, Erika said, but the cops knocked him around, cutting open his head and leaving him a bloody mess on the floor. Junior started recording the police with his phone, she said, but an officer knocked it out of his hand and the cops took it away.

The video showed the police conducting an illegal search of the house but when Junior got his phone back, the recording had been mysteriously erased, according to the first lawsuit.

Ricardo and Junior were arrested on felony charges of aggravated battery to a police officer. They are both scheduled to stand trial in February.

Their mother and father were jailed on the same charges. Prosecutors later dropped the case against Rosa. Juan pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of misdemeanor battery.

Erika and the her boyfriend at the time, James Faught, also were taken into custody but prosecutors decided against filing charges. Erika accused the officers of treating her roughly even though she was eight months pregnant.

“The guy was holding me so tight,” she said. “It hurt so bad I asked him to stop.”

Natalie, only 14 at the time of the incident, said she remained in her room while the police were arresting her entire family. An officer forced his way into her room, shoved a Taser in her face and threatened to shock her with it, she said.

“I have flashbacks and shake a lot,” she said. “I get scared” at the sight of police officers.

The Espinozas’ attorney, John Schrock, said the police suspected Ricardo possessed drugs and wanted to go looking for contraband.

“They just wanted to do a general search of the house, so they intimidated everyone out of their way,” Schrock said.

Last month, a Bolingbrook man filed a federal lawsuit against Police Officer Thomas McAuliffe. Jose Almarez, 21, claimed McAuliffe roughed him up after stopping him for no reason as he walked along a residential street.

In another federal lawsuit filed earlier this year, an officer with the Illinois Department of Corrections accused five Bolingbrook cops of racism and claimed they repeatedly arrested him on false charges. Correctional Officer Henry Godfrey also said the officers called his bosses at Stateville prison numerous times in hopes of getting him fired.

In Will County court, a local man recently accused Bolingbrook police officers of breaking a vertebrae in his neck while falsely arresting him in December 2013.

Julio Guzman was 18 when Bolingbrook police officers allegedly broke his neck. Guzman was charged with aggravated battery resisting police.

Prosecutors decided to pursue only a misdemeanor battery case against Guzman. He was acquitted of the charge at a September trial.

Bolingbrook’s public safety director, Tom Ross, who oversees the police force, and the town’s mayor, Roger Claar, have both ducked calls from Patch about the lawsuits and have yet to comment on the state of the department.