Joliet police officer faces 3rd lawsuit since 2018

A Joliet police officer is facing at least his third lawsuit in the past four years, this time over allegations concerning excessive force during a 2020 traffic stop.

The plaintiff alleged that officer Nicholas Crowley roughed her up, pushed her to the ground and then gave her a ticket for failing to obey a stop sign.

On May 27, Amanda Brown, 26, of Calumet City, sued Crowley, another “unnamed officer” and the city of Joliet over her June 1, 2020, arrest in Joliet, court records show.

Brown’s lawsuit alleged that she was driving a vehicle at 5:23 p.m. June 1, 2020, on E. 1600 Division St. when Crowley “operated his city of Joliet police vehicle in a manner as to get his vehicle into a single-vehicle accident.”

Brown’s lawsuit alleged that an unnamed officer responded to the scene and both that officer and Crowley approached Brown “without any lawful justification.”

According to the lawsuit, both officers “detained her, physically removed her from her vehicle, arrested her, forced her to the ground, slammed her face into the ground and restrained her in handcuffs.”

Brown “suffered physical injuries to her face,” according to the lawsuit.

Brown accused Crowley of “without any lawful justification” issuing her a citation for disobeying a stop sign and then letting her go.

Brown’s lawsuit charged Crowley and the unnamed officer with excessive use of force and false arrest.

Joliet police spokesman Dwayne English did not immediately respond to a message and call Friday afternoon about the lawsuit.

Attorney Anthony Tomkiewicz, of the law firm Tedone & Morton, is representing Brown. A representative from the law firm said Tomkiewicz was not available Friday afternoon.

Court records showed Crowley signed a ticket for Brown that cited her for disobeying a stop sign at 5:23 p.m. June 1, 2020, at E. 1600 Division St.

On Aug. 18, 2020, Judge Chrystel Gavlin rendered a judgment against Brown for failing to appear in court on her return date, court records show. Brown was fined $281.

In 2018, Christopher Simenson sued Crowley and the city of Joliet in federal court over allegations that Crowley injured him during a 2016 arrest.

After a trial last year, a federal jury ruled in Simenson’s favor and awarded him about $7,770 in compensatory damages.

Also in 2018, Milbert Waters filed a federal lawsuit against Crowley, officer Arthur Arellano and the city of Joliet. Waters’ lawsuit claimed Crowley and Arrellano arrested him in 2016 with no probable cause or legal justification.

The case is set for a hearing June 9.

Crowley was arrested in 2017 on charges accusing him of battering his fiancée, Cassandra Socha, who also was a Joliet police officer, and firing a gun into the ceiling of their residence.

A grand jury declined to indict Crowley on the domestic battery charge. Will County Chief Judge Dan Kennedy found Crowley not guilty of recklessly firing his gun after finding there was “no direct evidence of how the gun was discharged.”

Nevertheless, Kennedy criticized the behavior of Crowley and Socha during their altercation. He said the two “demeaned the positions which you hold, demeaned the department which you worked and demeaned our community, which you took an oath to serve and protect.”