Joliet police chief, others seek dismissal of false arrest lawsuit

Attorneys for the Joliet police chief and other police officials are seeking to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a retired police sergeant who claimed that he was falsely arrested in 2022.

Since June, Joliet police Chief William Evans and several others have contended the federal lawsuit from retired Joliet police Sgt. Dwayne Killian, who once was a civilian member of the Tri-County Auto Theft Task Force.

Killian was taken into custody June 14, 2022, over allegations that he stole a forklift. As of Wednesday, court records in Will, Grundy, Kendall and Kankakee counties do not show charges filed against Killian. Federal court records show no charges as well.

On Tuesday, David Mathues, one of the attorneys for the police officials, filed a motion for summary judgment that argued the “undisputed facts show that there was probable cause to arrest Killian for theft.”

If there somehow wasn’t probable cause for the arrest, Mathues argued that Evans and others are “entitled to qualified immunity because they had at least arguable probable cause.”

Qualified immunity is a legal doctrine that protects government officials from lawsuits to the extent that their conduct does not violate the “clearly established rights” of plaintiffs.

U.S. District Judge LaShonda Hunt has not yet ruled on the summary judgment motion.

Killian’s lawsuit lists the defendants as Evans, Joliet police Deputy Chief Robert Brown, Joliet police Sgt. Raul Alvarez and Joliet police officer Ryan Shaw.

Retired Joliet police Sgt. Ed Grizzle, who was the director of the Tri-County Auto Theft Task Force, also was named as a defendant in the suit.

Mathues said Evans, Brown, Alvarez and Shaw are “entitled to summary judgment based on a lack of personal participation.”

“They relied on information provided to them by [Grizzle] and had no reason to doubt that information,” Mathues’ motion said.

On June 14, 2022, Grizzle informed Joliet police Deputy Chief Carlos Matlock that Killian allegedly “refused several orders by Grizzle to return a forklift owned by [the Tri-County Auto Theft Task Force],” according to Matlock’s affidavit.

The forklift was kept at Killian’s residence, and Grizzle denied that Killian had the authority to remove and store Tri-County Auto Theft Task Force property at the residence, according to Matlock’s affidavit.

Matlock told Evans about what Grizzle said. Evans then directed Matlock to tell Grizzle to arrest Killian for theft, according to Matlock’s affidavit.

“When I spoke to Grizzle, I had no reason to disbelieve the information he gave me or think that probable cause was lacking for Killian’s arrest,” according to Matlock’s affidavit.

Killian eventually returned not only the forklift but an air compressor, a trailer and a 1980 Harley-Davidson motorcycle that belonged to the task force, according to a court filing from Matheus.

Brown assigned Alvarez and Shaw to take Killian to the Joliet Police Department by squad vehicle, Matheus said.

Later, Grizzle “conferred” with Evans, who advised Grizzle to release Killian from custody “pending further investigation,” Matheus said.

Grizzle turned over the case to the Illinois Attorney General’s Office because he “believed it was better to have an independent agency handle the matter, and the file remains under investigation with the [Illinois State Police],” Mathues said.