2 man charged with murder sue police, claim excessive force

Two men charged with murder filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Chicago Police Department, alleging officers used excessive force against them when they were shot.

John W. Givens and Leland Dudley say they were unarmed and their vehicle was stopped outside of an electronics store on April 30 when the officers opened fire at "close range," according to the lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

The officers shot 30 to 40 bullets, wounding Givens and Dudley and killing another man they were with in the Little Village neighborhood, according to the lawsuit.

Ogden District officers were responding to a report of a burglary at Mike's Electronics in the 2400 block of South Western Avenue between 2:30 a.m. and 2:45 a.m. when they spotted three men inside, authorities said.

The officers surrounded the business, announced they were the police, knocked on the doors and tried to get the men to surrender, said Pat Camden, a spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police.

But the three men -- Givens, Dudley and David Strong, 27 -- continued to load stolen goods into a vehicle belonging to the store's owner, Camden said.
The men got in the vehicle and tried to escape by driving through a metal door, Camden said.

Given's and Dudley's lawsuit says that two or more officers were outside the garage door of Mike's Electronics when the minivan they were in reversed onto 25th Street after exiting the garage door.

The minivan stopped after the rear of the van hit a police vehicle, according to the lawsuit.

But Camden said their swerving vehicle struck an officer and a squad car, and then raced toward several other officers. The officers opened fire, he said.
All three men were unarmed when police officers approached the minivan, in which the plaintiffs were passengers, according to the lawsuit. Then two police officers moved toward the front of the stopped minivan and shot Leland, Dudley and Strong repeatedly in the head, the lawsuit says.

Strong was killed after he was shot five times, according to the lawsuit. Strong, of the 1600 block of North Lockwood Avenue, died at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Dudley was shot five times but survived, according to the lawsuit.

Police officers reloaded their weapons and shot Givens eight times while he lay lengthwise on the floor of the minivan behind the front seat, according to the lawsuit.

"The City of Chicago policemen had no justification for the use of this deadly force," the lawsuit said.

The injured officer was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital for bruises and contusions, Camden said.

Givens, 32, and Dudley, 33,  were each charged with murder, burglary and possession of a stolen vehicle, said police. They were charged with murder because Strong died during the commission of a crime, authorities said.

The Independent Police Review Authority, the agency that investigates all officer-involved shootings, opened a probe of the shooting and investigators have taken a "significant amount of statements," according to Ilana Rosenzweig, the agency's chief administrator.

City spokesman Roderick Drew said in an email Wednesday that the city has not yet been served with the lawsuit.

Givens and Dudley are seeking more than $ 50,000 in damages.

nnix@tribune.com
Twitter: @nsnix87

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