Suit: Man Falsely Arrested, Charged With Armed Robbery
CHICAGO, Ill (STMW)-- A lawsuit was filed Friday claiming that a man was falsely arrested and charged with armed robbery because he refused to help with the murder investigation of a Metra police officer.
Lazeric Lipscomb claims that in Oct. 2006, members of the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force were investigating the murder of a Metra police officer, according to a lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court.
The suit claims that task force members sought to question Lipscomb about another man who they were interested in concerning the crime. The task force members arrested Lipscomb about an armed robbery in Harvey that occurred Sept. 2006 and then interrogated him about the man they were interested in for the homicide of the Metra officer, according to the suit.
The task force members repeatedly attempted to get Lipscomb to agree to be a police informant in relation to the other man but he refused, according to the suit. Lipscomb was then falsely charged with felony offenses for the armed robbery and awaited trial for almost three years. During this time, Lipscomb was repeatedly asked to provide information or become an informant about the man concerned with the Metra homicide, according to the suit.
Lipscomb was held in custody until he was acquitted of all charges during a bench trial on Sept. 30, 2009, according to the suit.
The four-count suit claims false arrest, malicious prosecution, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The suit seeks a jury trial and more than $400,000 in damages.
A task force commander said he was not aware of the lawsuit and could not comment.
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