40 lawsuits against the Sheriff’s Department

When I saw the list of lawsuits filed against the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department last week, listed on www.dirtykeithvsdirtyharry.blogspot.com, I was surprised by the number of which I already had knowledge, some first-hand.

In case you missed the list, here it is. I have not verified the accuracy of the list or attempted to learn the resolution of cases that have already been settled, if any. In one case that I know to have been concluded, Gary Gauger did not win his case in McHenry County Circuit Court. That didn’t mean that the Sheriff’s Department and the deputies involved were innocent (or not liable); it meant that Gauger’s attorneys were not able to jump a very high bar to achieve success in that case.

From the Dirty Keith weblog comes the following list. Count them. You’ll see 40 cases. These are cases against the Sheriff's Department; that is, the Sheriff's Department (or deputies or other employees) is the defendant or co-defendant.

“Lawsuits Filed Against the McHenry County Sheriff's Department - Illinois Northern Federal District Court and McHenry County Court Since 2003

“Caison v. McHenry County Adult Corrections Facility et al
Battaglia et al v. County of McHenry et al
Belbachir v. County of McHenry et al
Runles v. McHenry County Jail et al
Silva v. Nygren et al
Beck v. McHenry County Jail et al
Matsukis v. United States Marshals et al
Parker v. Nygren et al
Peterson et al v. Nygren et al
Stanard et al v. Nygren et al
Gellert v. McHenry County Sheriff Department et al
Dooley-Trewartha v. McHenry County Sheriff's Office et al
Sarapnicklene v. McHenry County Jail
Martinez v. Correct Care Solutions LLC et al-McHenry County Jail
Seipler v. Cundiff et al-Sheriff of McHenry County
O'Grady v. Penna et al-McHenry County Sheriff Department
Rajchel et al v. McHenry County Illinois Sheriff Department et al
Pavlin et al v. McHenry County et al
Romero v. McHenry County Sheriff's Dept.
Johnson v. Sheriff McHenry County
Bahr v. McHenry County Sheriff Dept.
Smith v. McHenry County Sheriff Dept.
Cirelli v. keith Nygren Sheriff of McHenry County
Riley, Smith v. Keith Nygren, Daniel Sedlock
McCann v. Deputy Ken Nielsen
Becker v. McHenry County Sheriff Dept.
Phalin v. McHenry County Sheriff Dept.
Garza v. McHenry County Sheriff Dept.
Millman v. McHenry County Sheriff Dept.
Fringer v. McHenry County Sheriff Dept.
Andrews v. McHenry County Sheriff Dept.
Schenkert v. McHenry County Sheriff Dept.
Schmidt v. McHenry County Sheriff Dept.
King v. McHenry County Sheriff Dept.
Pere v. McHenry County Sheriff Dept.
Burke v. McHenry County Sheriff Dept.
Leo v. McHenry County Sheriff Dept.
Shaffer v. McHenry County Sheriff Dept.
Reyes v. McHenry County Sheriff Dept.
Gauger v. McHenry County Sheriff Dept.”

What do I know about some of these cases?

The Dooley-Trewartha case is related to the 2006 fatal beanbag shooting of David Maxson, of Wonder Lake. Because I have been involved in the mental health community in McHenry County, I took an interest in that case. I wanted to know how the call was handled and whether a Crisis-Intervention-Trained (C.I.T.) deputy had been in charge. When I read the reports of several deputies, I immediately thought there was something wrong. The reports sounded too similar to have been written independently. I later learned that, in fact, the reports were written with the reporting deputies in the same room. No wonder their stories all matched! They should have been separated and should have written their reports without knowledge of what other deputies were writing.

Another serious case of which I have personal knowledge is the lawsuit by Jerome and Carla Pavlin against the Sheriff’s Department. In that case deputies went to the Pavlin residence with a warrant to arrest their son, who was visiting his parents. After the arrest warrant was served and the son was removed from the house, deputies refused to leave. Both Mr. Pavlin (80) and Mrs. Pavlin (65) were injured by deputies, who charged them with resisting arrest. The McHenry County State’s Attorney dropped the charges with prejudice, meaning that the Sheriff’s Department cannot re-file charges.

What will so many cases really cost the taxpayers of McHenry County? How many of these cases should never have been filed?

Lawsuits are often filed to cause change and improvement in methods used by deputies (and officers). Plaintiffs want to know that procedures and methods that are "broken" will be fixed. When they are not satisfied with responses from a Department, such as the McHenry County Sheriff's Department, they get a lawyer and file a lawsuit.

Are improper decisions at the Sheriff’s Department leading to many of these cases?