CHICAGO (AP) – A federal jury has awarded $50,000.75 to a Chicago man who accused police officers of wrongfully arresting him while he was filing his car tires with air.
Michael Oppenheimer of Erickson & Oppenheimer, Ltd. led a the legal team. Court records show the award given to Pares Ratliff last week includes $50,000 for damages, plus 75 cents for the cost of his interrupted use of a gas station air pump. The Chicago Tribune reports that Ratliff was driving to a store to buy diapers for his son in 2009 when he noticed one of the tires on his vehicle was low and stopped at the gas station. That’s when two officers approached him, said they had a warrant for his arrest and arrested him when he disagreed. Charges accusing Ratliff of assaulting an officer were eventually dropped, and he sued.