Retired Joliet police sergeant still on the hook in false arrest lawsuit case

A retired Joliet police sergeant must still contend with a federal lawsuit claiming he had no probable cause to arrest his colleague on a task force whom he accused of stealing a forklift.

On May 15, U.S. District Judge LaShonda Hunt granted a defense motion to dismiss Dwayne Killian’s false arrest claims against Joliet Police Chief Bill Evans, Deputy Police Chief Robert Brown, Sgt. Raul Alvarez and Officer Ryan Shaw.

But Hunt did not dismiss Killian’s false arrest claim against retired Joliet Police Sgt. Ed Grizzle. He was Killian’s colleague on the Tri-County Auto Theft Task Force.

The task force investigates vehicle-related crimes in Will, Grundy and Kankakee counties. They are currently investigating the school bus catalytic converter thefts at school districts in Shorewood and Bourbonnais.

Grizzle retired from the Joliet Police Department in January 2024 and he is no longer the director of the task force.

Itasca law firm Hervas, Condon and Bersani are representing Grizzle, Evans and all other defendants in the case.

Killian is being represented by Plainfield attorney John Schrock.

In Hunt’s court ruling, she said Killian conceded Evans and the other defendants are entitled to qualified immunity.

Qualified immunity is a legal doctrine that protects government officials from lawsuits to the extent that their conduct does not violate the “clearly established rights” of plaintiffs.

Yet Hunt ruled a reasonable jury could find Grizzle had no probable cause to arrest Killian. She also ruled Grizzle cannot shield himself from the lawsuit under qualified immunity.

“[Grizzle’s] contentions are contradicted by his own response to Killian’s statement of facts, where he admits that on June 14, 2022, Killian told him he planned to return the [task force] forklift the following morning,” Hunt said.

Killian was taken into custody in 2022 over allegations that he stole a forklift. Squad vehicle video showed Killian was not placed in handcuffs when he was taken to the Joliet Police Department.

An officer who escorted Killian to the squad vehicle told him, “I’m not handcuffing you, Dwayne. I do got to put you on the backseat, though, since it’s on camera.”

The forklift was property seized by the task force and kept in a large warehouse at an abandoned steel mill in Joliet, according to Hunt’s ruling.

In 2021, the task force was notified the steel mill would be demolished and their property needed a new location, according to Hunt. Killian informed Grizzle he could store the property at his residence.

In the spring of 2022, Grizzle requested the return of the forklift and emailed Killian instructions for a plan to auction the property, according to Hunt.

Killian agreed to return the forklift, according to Hunt.

But Grizzle emailed Killian in June 2022 to ask if he returned the forklift and Killian said he would return it the next morning because it was a “hundred degrees outside,” according to Hunt.

Grizzle then made a report “indicating Killian had committed theft” of task force property and arrested Killian for “theft of the forklift,” Hunt said.

“It is undisputed that on June 14, 2022, Killian returned a trailer, forklift and air compressor belonging to [the task force], and additional [task force] property along with a 1980 Harley motorcycle on June 18, 2022,” Hunt said.