http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/606640,CST-NWS-verdict17.articleThe Chicago Police Department has agreed to pay $4 million to a 23-year-old man who says police shoved a screwdriver into his behind.
The announcement came moments after a jury of nine women and men ruled that they believed Coprez Coffie over the two police officers who testified they had no idea where that screwdriver in their squad car's glove compartment came from.
"I just told my story because I wanted justice," said Coffie, who was 19 when the incident occurred. "People need to know what's going on."
The head of the Police Department's Office of Professional Standards, which earlier had cleared the officers of any wrongdoing, said Tuesday she now will re-open the investigation, as required by the city's new ordinance governing her office.
Coffie and his mother said the officers should be fired. Annette Coffee said it galled her during the trial to watch the officers testify that her son had drugs and that they never assaulted him: "... them sitting up there, saying that they did nothing," she said, her voice choking with emotion.
Coffie's attorney, Jon Loevy, said he is not optimistic the department will ever hold its own accountable.
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