A Chesterton man claims in a lawsuit that four Winfield police officers, during a routine traffic stop, handcuffed him, then beat him so brutally he lost consciousness.
Adam Curry, in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Hammond on March 23, alleges that he was pulled over during a traffic stop at East 106th Avenue and Randolph Street by Officer Paul Shane, who said Curry had “flown by him” on June 9, 2024.
The lawsuit was filed by Chicago attorney Jeffrey Naffziger on behalf of Curry and charges that Winfield police “engaged in unnecessary, excessive and objectively unreasonable force against Curry and is part of the Winfield Police Department’s “widespread or longstanding custom of engaging in excessive force to punish individuals who were placed under arrest for purported resistance.”
Named in the lawsuit are the town of Winfield, Shane, Officer George Dickerson, Officer Christopher Wilson and Detective Cpl. Jordan Billups-Taylor.
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Winfield Town Marshal Robert Byrd said his department learned of the lawsuit late on Friday afternoon and he will be consulting with the town’s legal counsel.
“We are investigating and preparing to respond, and we will issue a public statement in regard to the lawsuit and to the media request for the police body camera,” Byrd said.
Neither Curry nor his attorney, Naffziger, was immediately available for comment over the weekend.
According to court documents, Winfield Officer Paul Shane exited his patrol car June 9, 2024, after pulling Curry over. Shane approached Curry’s pickup truck with Winfield Officer George Dickerson and Winfield Officer Christopher Wilson arriving moments later.
Curry, in the court document, said he complied with orders to exit his vehicle and he leaned against the bed of his truck.
When asked by Shane to submit to a field sobriety test, Curry declined and instead extended his hands, saying the officers should place him in handcuffs and take him to jail.
Wilson began to place handcuffs on Curry’s hands when Shane shoved Curry into the bed of the pickup truck, causing a laceration on Curry’s chin, according to the court document.
Billups-Taylor arrived on the scene around this time, according to the court document.
Dickerson used a stun gun on Curry and then did it a second time after Curry had fallen to the ground. Curry was next placed in a prone position on his stomach and had his hands pinned behind his back by both Wilson and Shane, who fastened handcuffs, according to the court document.
Dickerson and Billups-Taylor then confronted the passenger in Curry’s truck, who expressed concern about the abusive and illegal treatment of Curry, according to the court document.
“Well when you fight with my officers, I don’t give a (expletive)…. He fights with my officers,” Billups-Taylor told him.
Dickerson completed the sentence for Billups-Taylor, “he get (sic) his (expletive) beat.”
While Curry was handcuffed and helplessly lying on the ground, Dickerson punched him multiple times while Billups-Taylor kicked him, according to the court document.
One of the officers then punched Curry on the side of the head with enough force that his head snapped to the side, according to the court document.
Billups-Taylor then used his fist to forcefully hold Curry’s head on the ground. While Wilson retrieved leg cuffs, Billups-Taylor placed his foot on Curry’s back to keep him down. When Curry complained that he couldn’t breathe, Shane rolled him over to his side.
Shortly afterward, Curry asked to be rolled onto his back.
Receiving no response, Curry asked to be seated upright. The police officers refused, according to the court document.
While further speaking to Curry’s passenger at the scene, Bilups-Taylor said, “You bring that (expletive) turd to our town again, he will go back into jail. For whatever reason, I will find a reason…to take him to jail. Keep bringing this piece of (expletive) to our town and he’ll go straight to jail. Alright?”
Curry said he then lost consciousness and became limp despite Shane shaking and pulling him.
Curry’s body began convulsing and twitching with increasing severity, consistent with him sustaining a traumatic brain injury from being punched in the face, documents state.
Curry’s passenger begged officers to help Curry but Billups-Taylor blithely dismissed this concern, stating that Curry was acting, court documents state.
Curry then began making choking and gagging sounds, and the EMS personnel arrived and pulled him onto his back while he was still unconscious and unresponsive to a sternum rub.
After a medic lifted Curry’s eyelid, he briefly jolted awake and exhaled deeply, according to court documents.
Curry was lifted to a seated position and then stood up, but was almost immediately thrown back on the ground.
During this process, Curry’s handcuffs slipped loose, leading the officers to again unnecessarily use the stun gun on him and reapply the handcuffs, court documents state.
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The officers then placed Curry in leg irons.
While Curry was lying prone with his legs crossed behind him, Wilson sat on his legs and told him, “I’m going to break your leg if you keep moving it.”
Curry was injected with an unknown substance, likely a sedative, by EMS. Shortly after, he was rolled onto his side and then stood up and seated on a stretcher. He appeared to lose consciousness again, according to court documents.
After Curry was seen at St. Mary’s Hospital in Hobart, Shane transported Curry to the Lake County Jail.
Curry, according to the court document, groaned multiple times and after one such groan, Shane asked if he was “okay back there.” Curry gave no response, according to the court document.
In the lawsuit, Naffziger is demanding a jury trial, compensatory damages, costs, prejudgment interest and attorneys’ fees.
Deborah Laverty is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.