An Illinois father has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that an off-duty police officer working as a college safety guard improperly restrained his 12-year-daughter throughout a battle at a Wisconsin center faculty final 12 months. Jerrel Perez, the daddy of the woman – known as Jane Doe all through the lawsuit – alleges that Shawn Guetschow used extreme drive and inflicted lasting accidents on his daughter.
Within the lawsuit, which was filed Monday, Perez alleges that throughout the March 4, 2022 altercation at Lincoln Center College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Guetschow used an unlawful chokehold to restrain the woman. Guetschow can be a Kenosha police officer however was not on obligation on the time of the incident, officers have mentioned.
Guetschow is accused within the lawsuit of pushing his proper knee into the again of the woman’s neck whereas concurrently pushing her head into the cafeteria flooring, putting his whole physique weight in opposition to the woman’s neck, and utilizing unreasonable drive to restrain the kid.
Perez alleges within the lawsuit that his daughter could not breathe whereas Guetschow’s knee was on her neck. She sustained a traumatic mind damage and nonetheless suffers recurring complications, in accordance with the lawsuit.
AP
Wisconsin handed a legislation in 2021 prohibiting police from utilizing chokeholds besides as a final resort, becoming a member of a bunch of different states that handed comparable statutes within the wake of widespread protests over Floyd’s loss of life.
The Wisconsin legislation doesn’t lay out any penalties for officers that make use of chokeholds, nonetheless, leaving it to prosecutors to determine whether or not different fees comparable to assault or reckless endangerment may apply in such conditions. Guetschow was not charged within the center faculty incident, court docket information present.
The Kenosha Police Division requires officers to observe its coverage and procedures when making off-duty arrests. The lawsuit accuses town of failing to coach its officers to work as off-duty safety guards and the varsity district with failing to coach its safety guards.
The woman, who had moved to Kenosha in 2021, was described as a “respectful scholar” in her faculty information, court docket paperwork mentioned. Perez presently resides in Illinois.
On March 18, the Kenosha Unified College District launched surveillance video of the incident, CBS Chicago reported. The video confirmed Guetschow making an attempt to interrupt up a battle between two women. Whereas making an attempt to drag the ladies aside, he falls to the bottom with one of many women. He ultimately will get on high of her, holds her down together with his arms and places his knee on her neck for 22 seconds, the video reveals.
Previous to becoming a member of the Kenosha police drive, Guetschow was an officer on the Lake Geneva Police Division, the place his subject efficiency was marked as “unacceptable” and he was described as “emotional, panicked or loses their mood,” court docket paperwork allege.
The Metropolis of Kenosha and the police knew that Guetschow had a repute for having a brief mood, court docket paperwork allege.