Charges dropped against Oak Lawn, Illinois police officer accused of excessive force in teen's arrest
CHICAGO (CBS) -- All charges were dropped Wednesday against an Oak Lawn police officer accused of using excessive force in the beating of a 17-year-old Palestinian American boy after a 2022 traffic stop.
Patrick O'Donnell, 32, had been charged with two counts of aggravated battery and two counts of official misconduct for his role in the violent arrest of Hadi Abuatelah.
One day before a bench trial was set to begin on Thursday, Cook County prosecutors dropped all charges against O'Donnell, according to court records.
O'Donnell was charged when the Cook County State's Attorney's office was run by Kim Foxx, who did not run for re-election this year. Former judge Eileen O'Neill Burke took office as Cook County State's Attorney earlier this month.
In a statement, a spokesperson for O'Neill Burke's office said, "After a thorough review, we concluded that the evidence is insufficient to meet our burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt to move forward with the prosecution of this case."
"Prosecutors must evaluate the evidence at every stage of a criminal proceeding, and act accordingly in the pursuit of justice. Throughout the pendency of this case, the CCSAO has been in communication with the victim, his family, and attorney as we sought an appropriate resolution. Today we asked the court to dismiss the case, and the court granted our motion," the state's attorney's office said.
On July 27, 2022, Abuatelah was sitting in the passenger seat of a friend's car when they were pulled over. Police have said officers pulled them over after smelling burning marijuana.
As O'Donnell was searching the vehicle, Abuatelah ran off. Officers tackled him to the ground, and O'Donnell began punching him in the face. Prosecutors have said he punched the teen more than 10 times in the head and face.
Dashboard camera video footage shows Oak Lawn police officers pinning Abuatelah to the ground, punching him over and over again as he lies on the pavement.
Police have said Abuatelah was carrying a crossbody bag at the time, and reached for a gun when he was pinned to the ground. A loaded .25 caliber semi-automatic pistol with three live rounds of ammunition was recovered from the bag.
Oak Lawn Police Chief Daniel Vittorio has defended O'Donnell's actions, saying Abuatelah tried to run with a crossbody bag and reached for a gun when he was pinned to the ground.
Vittorio said officers feared Abuatelah was reaching for a gun, and the teen didn't stop resisting until a stun gun was used.
The violent arrest sparked outrage in the Oak Lawn community. Abuatelah's supporters protested outside the police department, and demanded the charges against him be dropped.
Abuatelah's supporters have said, even if he deserved to be arrested that day, the officer's use of force was not necessary.
"Let's assume for a moment that this person had to be arrested legally. This is not the way to do it," Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said after Abuatelah's arrest, "and in no civilization, no time, and no place on earth is this kind of behavior acceptable."
Abuatelah was transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where he was treated for a broken pelvis, internal bleeding, and other severe injuries as a result of the beating.
A loaded .25 caliber semi-automatic pistol with three live rounds of ammunition was recovered from the bag the teen had across his upper body.
After the beating and arrest, Abuatelah was charged as a juvenile with unlawful use of a weapon, resisting arrest, and possession of cannabis. He later pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a weapon.
Earlier this year, while the case against O'Donnell was still pending, Abuatelah was charged with robbery, aggravated battery, and mob action in connection to an incident at a Lifetime Fitness gym in Orland Park. According to the indictment, he and two other young men kicked and punched a man inside the gym and stole his cell phone on Dec. 10, 2023.
Abuatelah, now 20, and his co-defendants – Sami Hirmiz, 20, and Nooh Masoud, 19 – all were released on electronic monitoring while they await trial in that case.
The Arab American Action Network, which has criticized the officer's actions and supported Abuatelah's family since the beating, blasted Burke for dropping the charges against O'Donnell.
"Today, a grave injustice has been committed against our community," said the group's lead organizer, Muhammad Sankari. "Instead of carrying out her duty to hold everyone accountable to the law, State's Attorney Eileen Burke is returning the office to the old style Chicago politics of back room dealings and cover ups of misconduct, where one corrupt and guilty hand washes the other."
CBS News Chicago legal analyst Irv Miller said he doesn't buy the argument that prosecutors were simply protecting O'Donnell.
"I don't think anybody could realistically say that if they know the facts of this case," he said. "This case is very fact-specific. The fact of resisting arrest, having a gun, confessing to having a gun in court, and then picking up a robbery case while the case was pending, I don't think you could say it's anything about a philosophy of the state's attorney's office."
Miller noted that Abuatelah ended up pleading guilty to the weapons charge he faced after his arrest in 2022, and if his later robbery arrest had been allowed into evidence at trial, it likely would harm his credibility as a witness in the case against O'Donnell.
"You would have had a victim who not only admits possessing, a gun but committed a robbery while the case was pending, and the defendant could use that information, and the state's attorney said, 'I can't prove this case,'" he said.
However, Sankari said the charges against Abuatelah should have nothing to do with O'Donnell's use of force against him in 2022.
"Regardless of anything else, the case that was going to trial was the brutal beating of this man, this young man who was 17 at the time in 2022. Anything that's happened subsequently, anything that's happened outside of that, anything about him or anyone else has nothing to do with the fact that Officer Patrick O'Donnell grabbed him and repeatedly bashed his head into the pavement to the point where he had internal bleeding in his brain," he said.
Sankari said several Arab American groups planned to protest outside O'Neill Burke's office on Thursday.
"Clearly, State's Attorney Eileen Burke has decided that her role, and her office, and her campaign which was bankrolled by the [Fraternal Order of Police], and now her role as a state's attorney is going to be to protect police instead of holding them accountable for the benefit of our community," he said. "Everyone should be held accountable to the law, especially police officers. Eileen Burke has clearly sent a message today that she doesn't believe that that's the case."
Oak Lawn police declined to comment on prosecutors' decision to drop the charges against O'Donnell.
Abuatelah has filed a federal lawsuit against the Oak Lawn Police Department, accusing O'Donnell and two other officers involved in his arrest of "extreme and outrageous conduct."