Suit: Cops Beat Men Outside Taco Restaurant

Chicago - Two men -- one with a Ph.D. and the other pursuing his Ph.D. -- claim plainclothes Chicago Police officers beat them at a Logan Square taco restaurant last month, allegedly because they were blocking access to the cash register.

In a lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Matthew Clark and Gregory Malandrucco claim that both plainclothes and uniformed officers who responded to the scene left them in a parking lot without providing medical assistance, "despite their obvious need of it."

The suit says Clark, 37, a Chicagoan who works for a management consulting firm and has a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago; and Malandrucco, 32, who is pursuing his Ph.D. at the Hyde Park campus, went out on Feb. 6. On their way home, they stopped at Arturo's Tacos, 2001 N. Western Ave., and at about 3 a.m. they finished their meal and were preparing to leave.

While standing up to leave, Malandrucco encountered two male plainclothes officers and one female plainclothes officer, who had also been dining. One of the male officers shoved Malandrucco and glared at him, because, the suit says, Malandrucco unintentionally obstructed his path to the cashier or exit.

Malandrucco told the officer he was putting on his coat and would get out of the way shortly, and the plainclothes officers exited Arturo's.

Malandrucco and Clark paid for their meal and walked out toward their car. The officers were allegedly waiting in the parking lot and began to yell at the men in an aggressive manner, the suit claims. The two men attempted to calm the officers by trying "to shake hands, make peace and suggesting that everyone go home since nothing had happened," the suit said.

It was at that time that a male officer "without warning" punched Clark and began to strike him repeatedly, throwing him to the ground, the suit said.

The plainclothes officers then held Clark down and "brutally beat him until he lost consciousness," according to the suit.

When Malandrucco attempted to stop the beating, according to the suit, the officers "responded by beating (him). (They) threw Mr. Malandrucco to the ground, hitting his head against the concrete and knocking him unconscious."

The suit says at least three uniformed police officers arrived on the scene in marked squad cars. At one point, one of the uniformed officers "switched places with the plainclothes officer who was on top of Mr. Malandrucco, holding him down and striking him in the process," according to the suit.

Another one of the uniformed officers allegedly kicked or kneed Malandrucco, the suit said.

Clark was "bleeding profusely from the wounds on his head" and Malandrucco "was also bleeding from the wounds on his face," the suit said.

Though they "begged" the uniformed officers to help, they allegedly accompanied the plainclothes officers to their car and told Malandrucco and Clark to "go home and forget the incident ever happened," the suit said.

According to the suit, at least two nearby surveillance cameras captured the "violent and unprovoked beating."

Both men suffered multiple injuries and "six weeks after the attack (Clark) still has a visible scar on his forehead and lip," the suit says. Both missed at least a week of work and have incurred thousands of dollars in medical bills, the suit said.

"We have not yet seen (the suit) or had an opportunity to review it," Melissa Stratton, spokeswoman for the city Department of Law, said Wednesday morning. "Therefore it would not be appropriate to comment on the allegations."

The men are seeking unspecified damages.