Legal Woes Surround 'Racial Profiling' Protest Organizer

The organizer behind Saturday’s protest in Evergreen Park over alleged racial profiling pleaded guilty to hitting a police officer in a 2009 incident but, in a lawsuit filed against Oak Lawn, claims the department used “excessive force” in the arrest and profiled her in two traffic stops.

Erica Chriswell of Burbank is promoting the protest on a Facebook page. She states the march is a response against alleged "racial profiling" by the Evergreen Park and Oak Lawn police departments. Attempts to reach Chriswell have been unsuccessful. Evergreen Park police have declined to comment on the protest, other than to confirm it is scheduled.

The Village of Oak Lawn is fighting a lawsuit Chriswell has filed in U.S. District court against the village. Attorney Dan Duffy said the village contends she can’t sue over the arrest because it would undermine her guilty plea.

“We’ve filed a motion to dismiss and are waiting to hear the court’s judgment,” Duffy said.

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Oak Lawn police stopped Chriswell in December 2009. Police attempted to arrest Chriswell before she sped away, sparking a short police pursuit, and then stopped, according to legal documents. She was charged with felony aggravated fleeing and eluding, aggravated battery to a police officer and resisting a police officer. She later pleaded guilty to aggravated battery to a police officer.

Chriswell’s lawsuit alleges that the police did not have probable cause for the arrest, a contention the Village of Oak Lawn disputes in its motion, according to legal documents. The village argues the crime that prompted the arrest happened in plain view of the officer.

Chriswell also alleges that an officer used the phrase “black equals crack” after she was taken to the Oak Lawn Police Department and stripped searched, and that another officer slammed her against a concrete wall. Oak Lawn disputes the claims and argues that lawsuit, filed in November 2012, exceeds statutes of limitations for some of the claims.

The lawsuit also alleges targeting and “due process violations” in an incident between September 2010 and January 2011 and again on May 24, 2011. In the May incident, Chriswell claims an Oak Lawn police officer pulled her over after spotting her in a Dunkin Donuts drive-thru. Neither claim identifies a specific officer.

Legal troubles extend beyond criminal litigation for Chriswell. She is currently involved in a trademark dispute with Big Score Entertainment over the use of the name "Eryka Kane," according to legal documents.

The march is set to begin at 1 p.m. near the intersection of 95th Street and Western Avenue in Evergreen Park.

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