COPS ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO RAM THEIR FLASHLIGHTS UP SOMEONE'S ASS

Chicago cop allegedly shoved flashlight into handcuffed teen’s buttocks 

 

By Joshua Rhett Miller

 

New York Post

September 3, 2021 

 

                                                         Wilfredo Roman

 

A Chicago Police Department lieutenant has been accused of shoving a flashlight into the clothed backside of a handcuffed teen carjacking suspect, authorities said.

Lt. Wilfredo Roman, a 21-year vet, surrendered late Wednesday to the department’s Bureau of Internal Affairs for allegedly shoving the flashlight into the teen’s buttocks over his clothes this summer.

“That’s what you get for carjacking,” prosecutors said Roman told the 17-year-old suspect as he walked away, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Prosecutors said Roman shoved the flashlight “in between” the teen’s buttocks after he and a 16-year-old suspect were arrested for allegedly carjacking a man at gunpoint and taking his Mazda on Feb. 9, the newspaper reported.

Once in custody, the teen claimed his handcuffs were too tight, prompting Roman to walk up behind him and assault him after yelling for the suspect to shut up, prosecutors said.

The teen — identified in court documents only as “Z.K.” — then started “yelling out when the flashlight entered his buttocks,” Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Mary McDonnell said at Roman’s bond hearing.

An attorney for Roman — who has been charged with two felonies, aggravated battery and official misconduct — downplayed the accusations during a bond hearing on Thursday, claiming the teen was not hurt.

“This is a spank or a spanking, for the love of God,” attorney James McKay told Cook County Judge Arthur Wesley Willis. “I had nuns that treated me far worse.”

Charges against the teen and his alleged accomplice are pending in juvenile court, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. McKay described the 17-year-old suspect as an “armed carjacker” who didn’t request medical help afterward.

“Your honor, the flashlight in question is smaller than my pen,” McKay said while saying it did not penetrate the teen, seemingly riling the judge.

“The fact that the individual may have engaged in a serious felony offense does not mean he should be treated in any way different than anyone else who may come into contact with police,” the judge replied. “That is not an argument that this court finds very persuasive.”

Willis rejected prosecutors’ request that Roman surrender all of his weapons. He earns more than $138,000 annually, the Sun-Times reported, citing a city employee database.

Roman, a father of two who is engaged, was ordered released on his own recognizance, the Tribune reported.

Department officials said in a statement to The Post that Roman had been relieved of his police powers when the incident came to light in July.

“He could face additional disciplinary actions pending the outcomes of the criminal and administrative investigations,” the statement read.

 

Roman has been the subject of 40 citizen complaints during his career with the department, including allegations of excessive force and false arrest. He has also been sued for misconduct allegations at least three times in the past decade, the Tribune reported.

One of the suits was filed by a man who claimed Roman and three other officers shot him twice after cornering him during a foot chase in 2011. The lawsuit, which didn’t indicate which officer opened fire, was settled for $200,000, record show.

Roman is the third Chicago cop to be arrested this week on excessive force allegations, the Tribune reported. He declined to talk to reporters after court Thursday, according to CBS Chicago.