Village Breaks Silence On Oak Lawn Cop’s Indictment

OAK LAWN, IL — Oak Lawn village officials have broken their silence since a police officer was indicted by a grand jury on aggravated battery and misconduct charges when he was caught on video last summer punching a 17-year-old boy during his arrest.

Officer Patrick O’Donnell, 32, was indicted last month by a Cook County grand jury for his role in the arrest of Hadi Abuatelah. A passing motorist captured O’Donnell repeatedly punching the teen, as two other officers tried to restrain him. The other officers have not been charged.

The video immediately went viral, angering members of the Arab American community, who claim that Abuatelah was being racially profiled when he and two other teens were pulled over because police said they could smell marijuana emanating from the car. Police said Abuatelah was later found to be carrying a loaded gun.

At the request of Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, the Illinois State Police reviewed the allegations of excessive force. ISP completed their investigation in January, and sent their findings to the state's attorney. The state police were not involved in the charging process.

O’Donnell was arranged Wednesday at the Leighton Criminal Courts Building on a direct indictment. The police officer entered a plea of not guilty to charges of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, aggravated battery in the public way, and official misconduct based on both felony charges.

The village distributed a written statement at Wednesday's fire and police commission meeting that protesters shut down. Beyond what village officials knew two weeks ago when they first learned of O’Donnell’s indictment from the news media, they haven’t received any additional information about the indictment.

“We contacted the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office multiple times, including twice in writing, to request information, including the report they received from the Illinois State Police in January. This was referenced in [a news] media story and was presumably what led to the indictment …”

Oak Lawn village officials called it “speculation” because the state’s attorney is not communicating with them.

“We also contacted the state police to ask for a copy of their report, but they referred us back to the Cook County State's Attorney who, again, hasn't responded to or even acknowledge our several inquiries.”

“We wish we had more to share, but things are still unfortunately very unclear at this point,” the statement continued. “Our only hope is that seeking justice and applying fairness are the only motivators involved in this matter.”