CHICAGO – A federal jury has found that a veteran Chicago police lieutenant with a checkered past used excessive force in beating and kicking a Cubs fan during the raucous World Series celebration outside Wrigley Field five years ago.
The eight-person jury deliberated for about four hours Wednesday before finding in favor of plaintiff Asher Kaufman, who was hospitalized after he was arrested by then-Sgt. Andrew Dakuras and other undercover officers stationed in Wrigleyville in the early morning hours of Nov. 2, 2016.
The jury awarded Kaufman $35,000 in damages from the city as well as $18,000 in punitive damages against Dakuras himself. Kaufman was also awarded $700 to replace a cellphone he claimed was seized by the officers during the incident and never returned.
Another officer sued in the case, Sgt. Joseph Mirus Jr., was found not liable of the counts against him.
A spokeswoman for the city’s Law Department said in a statement to the Tribune that the city was pleased with the jury’s findings in favor of Mirus and “assessing its options” regarding Dakuras.
Kaufman’s attorneys, Christopher Smith and Jeff Neslund, said their client was “very happy to finally get his day in court and tell a jury how he was abused and beaten by a sergeant, now lieutenant, in the Chicago Police Department.”
“Asher Kaufman brought this lawsuit with the hope that Lt. Dakuras will never be able to do anything like this to anyone else,” the attorneys said in an emailed statement.
According to evidence in the six-day trial, Kaufman and his girlfriend had joined fans celebrating the World Series victory near Wrigley Field when Mirus grabbed Kaufman outside the Gingerman Tavern on North Clark Street and confiscated a half-pint of whiskey he’d purchased at a nearby 7-Eleven.
Kaufman, who believed the undercover officer to be a bouncer from Gingerman, wound up getting in a scuffle with Mirus before Dakuras, who was also in plainclothes, approached and allegedly struck him repeatedly. As Kaufman tried to record the incident on his cellphone, Dakuras allegedly grabbed the phone and ran.
Kaufman chased Dakuras into the crowd and tackled him before being pounced on by several uniformed and undercover officers, according to testimony.
Kaufman testified Dakuras then told him he was an undercover cop, and that he was “f----- now,” according to the suit.
“I love this part, free shots,” Dakuras allegedly said.
Kaufman said Dakuras grabbed him by the hair and punched him in the face, head, and temple, jumped on him and drove his head into the pavement several times.
Kaufman was arrested and taken to the hospital by Dakuras for treatment. He was later charged with battery, resisting arrest and drinking on a public way. A judge in 2017 found him not guilty of battery and drinking on a public way, but convicted him on the misdemeanor count of resisting arrest.
Lawyers for Dakuras, who testified during the trial, argued that Kaufman was a troubled person who attacked the police and that Dakuras and the other officers at the scene that night used necessary force to get him under control.
But Kaufman’s attorneys argued Dakuras was a serial liar whose testimony should not be believed.
“This guy will say anything to avoid responsibility,” Neslund said during his closing argument Wednesday, pointing at Dakuras seated at the defense table.
Dakuras, a 26-year veteran of the force, has had 73 complaints registered against him in his career, placing him in the top 1% when compared to other officers, according to online information compiled by the Invisible Institute. Only one of those complaints was sustained.
He also has been sued at least six other times in federal court for alleged misconduct ranging from excessive force to illegal searches and seizures. All of the previous lawsuits were settled by the city before trial, for a total of $278,000, records show.
Dakuras was promoted to lieutenant last year, while the lawsuit by Kaufman was pending, records show.
Soon after, he was temporarily relieved of his police powers pending an investigation by the bureau of internal affairs of an incident where he allegedly covered up for an off-duty officer who had been arrested for battery, according to court records.
Internal affairs suspended Dakuras for 30 days, a decision that he’s currently appealing.
In their statement to the Tribune, Kaufman’s lawyers said the punitive damages awarded during this week’s trial should “send a message to the city that they have a serious accountability problem with officers such as Lt. Dakuras, who have a disturbing history of serious citizen complaints and federal lawsuits.”
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