October 07, 2024
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Former Lakemoor police officer files federal suit against village for wrongful termination

By Doug T. Graham - Daily Herald Media Group
Lakemoor police officer Anthony Loiacono runs to the aid of fellow officer Briana Tedesco, who was struggling with Kenneth Martell over two guns he had produced in an SUV parked in a driveway off Four Seasons Road. Tedesco is suing the village of Lakemoor for wrongful termination because she was uncomfortable returning to work soon after the shooting.

Lakemoor police officer Anthony Loiacono runs to the aid of fellow officer Briana Tedesco, who was struggling with Kenneth Martell over two guns he had produced in an SUV parked in a driveway off Four Seasons Road. Tedesco is suing the village of Lakemoor for wrongful termination because she was uncomfortable returning to work soon after the shooting. (Provided by Lake County state's attorney's office, 2019)

A former Lakemoor police officer is suing the village saying she was fired for having PTSD, which she claims she developed after having to wrestle a gun away from a murder suspect during a traffic stop in July 2018.

Brianna Tedesco claims she was fired after she told her bosses she wasn’t ready to work the night shift alone without a partner.

An official with the village of Lakemoor could not immediately be reached for comment.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court Wednesday, alleges she was fired from the department on Aug. 6, 2019, more than a year after her encounter with Kenneth Martell, an armed murder suspect, on July 26, 2018.

Tedesco found Martell napping in an SUV in the darkness of a remote driveway about 5 a.m. Dashcam footage released by the Lake County state’s attorney’s office shows Tedesco screaming as the man pulls a gun on her after she was talking to him to retrieve documents to confirm his identity.

A 2018 Daily Herald photo showing a view from a drone of the scene of the police involved shooting in Lakemoor. Former Lakemoor police officer Briana Tedesco says she was fired just over a year after the shooting and is suing the village for wrongful termination.

A 2018 Daily Herald photo showing a view from a drone of the scene of the police involved shooting in Lakemoor. Former Lakemoor police officer Briana Tedesco says she was fired just over a year after the shooting and is suing the village for wrongful termination. (Brian Hill)

The man had falsely identified himself as James Dunkin and pulled the gun on Tedesco after she told Martell there was no driver’s license on record with that name, according to the lawsuit.

Tedesco and Martell struggled over his gun and a second gun he attempted to pull. On the video she can be heard screaming, “No! No!” and “Please don’t shoot me!” Then a second officer, Anthony Loiacono, arrived and shot Martell, who died, according to the lawsuit.

In the lawsuit, Tedesco claims she returned to work just more than a month after the shooting over the concerns of a therapist after she felt pressure to do so by her colleagues. Other officers told her she needed to “pull her big girl panties up and return to work,” according to the lawsuit.

Tedesco is asking the court to reinstate her as a police officer and award her actual and punitive damages.

https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20221020/former-lakemoor-police-officer-files-federal-suit-against-village-for-wrongful-termination

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