Brothers: Chicago Police Beat Us Up : MyFoxCHICAGO.com
Brothers: Chicago Police Beat Us Up
Chicago - Michael and Adrian Ayala were closing up the 7911 Food and Liquor Store on South Archer early Wednesday morning when they said a bunch of Chicago police officers, mistaking them for robbers, beat them up.
Officers were driving by around 1 a.m. as Michael Ayala, 23, was grabbing his keys from inside and his brother waited outside by his bicycle.
Police were apparently not interested in listening to Adrian Ayala's explanation, and they handcuffed him. That's when Michael Ayala went outside to find out what was going on.
"I seen them roughing up my brother," Michael Ayala said. "I was telling them, 'Could you please stop doing that to my brother.' When I said that, a cop came around, opened the door and he hit me a couple times."
The video does not show that, but it clearly shows what happens after the cops let the two men go without charges. An angry Michael Ayala yelled at one of the cops that he had them on video tape, and he wasn't going to let it go.
"That's when the sergeant just flipped out on me," Michael Ayala said.
The officer, who Ayala says was a sergeant, bashed his head against the store window. The impact cracked the glass outside the doorway to the store.
The security camera video shows the officers manhandling the two men to the floor inside the store. Adrian Ayala, 18, was pinned to the ground on and beaten by a one group of cops, while Michael was being roughed up too.
"They bum-rushed me and threw me to the floor, they bashed my head in with their hands and they bashed my head in with their knees, as well as with their feet. I felt someone kicking my ribs," Adrian Ayala said.
Chicago police confirm they have launched an investigation into the actions by the officers based out of the 8th district, and on Wednesday afternoon, an evidence technician was sent to the store to get copies of the video.
The Independent Police Review Authority, which handles allegations of police brutality and misconduct, has launched its own investigation.
Both men say the incident has left them shaken and has shattered the trust they once had for those who are supposed to serve and protect.
"I felt sort of betrayed, like now who am I going to seek help from if I'm terrified of every cop I see?" Adrian Ayala said.
