CHICAGO, Illinois (PNN) - August 18, 2011 - Security tape shows a group of police officers beating two Chicago brothers Wednesday after apparently mistaking them for robbers while one was closing the store where he worked.
Michael Ayala, 23, said officers assaulted him during an incident Wednesday after he was closing up shop at 711 Food and Liquor Store.
"He punched me in the ribs," he said of one thug officer, as he showed bruises on his upper arms from officers pinning him.
He said at one point he blacked out. Adrian Ayala, his 18-year-old brother who was waiting for him outside the store, also was punched and kicked, he said.
Michael said he was closing up the store early, while his brother waited for him on his bike. Michael is an employee at the store in the 4800 block of South Archer, and his brother sometimes helps stock shelves.
When he completed his task, he turned to see officers handcuffing his younger brother on the hood of a car. Michael said he went outside to tell police he worked there and that Adrian was there helping him. He even offered to turn the store security on and off to prove it.
Police let Adrian go, he said, but when a frustrated Michael yelled at officers that he had videotape of the incident, an officer he described as a sergeant "flipped" and put his head into a side window.
A store surveillance video posted on YouTube shows several officers rushing the brothers back into the store.
An investigation has been launched by the Independent Police Review Authority, and the Chicago Police Department said in a statement the department is fully cooperating.
"The alleged conduct does not represent the high standards of professionalism and excellence maintained as core values of the Department and which officers demonstrate on a daily basis serving and protecting the community," News Affairs said in a statement.
The Chicago Police Department is generally considered to be one of the most corrupt in the country. Countless reports of police brutality have gone unprosecuted and officers guilty of such behavior continue to receive taxpayer-funded salaries, carry weapons, and remain on the streets.
