Man sues New Lenox police, Silver Cross Hospital for ‘reckless’ treatment during mental health crisis

A man accused the New Lenox Police Department and Silver Cross Hospital for “reckless” conduct while he was suffering from a mental illness in December.

Attorneys representing Qusai Alkafaween said during a virtual press conference on Wednesday that their client was at a gas station in Orland Park on Dec. 5, 2020, acting erratically and suffering from mental illness. The gas station attendant called Orland Park police, who brought Alkafaween, then 24, to Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox.

Jack Casciato, an attorney with the Chicago-based law firm Clifford Law Offices, said Alkafaween remained at the hospital for a few hours but then was discharged.

“It is very clear that he is not stable,” Casciato said. “He is suffering from a manic moment to the point that the (New Lenox) Police Department was called in to assist him from leaving the actual lobby of the hospital.”

The attorneys said Alkafaween had previously received a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Casciato added that Alkafaween was neither aggressive nor combative but was experiencing “delusions.” He said the New Lenox police officers arrived and were at first helpful to Alkafaween, but then became frustrated with him and brought him to an abandoned parking lot at Wolf Road and Route 6 in Orland Park shortly before midnight.

The officers “simply just abandoned him at midnight with instructions from police officers to just start walking,” Casciato said. Alkafaween did not have a cell phone at the time, according to the lawsuit.

Alkafaween lived in Burbank at the time, Casciato said, adding the police could have brought Alkafaween home, to a mental health facility, or could have admitted him to Silver Cross Hospital which has a psychiatric unit.

The officers put Alkafaween in a “reckless” position by taking him to an area he was not familiar with, Casciato said.

The lawsuit, filed in Will County Circuit Court, named the village of New Lenox, police officers Jacob Klepk and David Dileto, Silver Cross Hospital and Dr. Daniel Nejak, who worked at the hospital.

The attorneys showed about 40 seconds of police body camera footage of when Alkafaween was taken to the parking lot. An officer asked Alkafaween if he knew “where you’re going from here?”

Alkafaween responded, “No.”

The officer asked him if he lived in Orland Park and Alkafaween said, “You want to help me with that?”

“This is as far as I can take you right now,” the officer said before instructing Alkafaween to “start walking north” toward “some businesses” and getting back into his vehicle. Klepk was the officer who spoke to Alkafaween at that moment, according to the lawsuit.

The clip ended after that exchange.

An operator at the New Lenox Police Department referred questions for Klepk and Dileto to a deputy chief.

In an email statement, New Lenox Deputy Police Chief Micah Nuesse confirmed that officers were called to Silver Cross Hospital on Dec. 5 and were “advised that Mr. Alkafaween had been treated, discharged from the hospital, and needed to leave the property.” He said an officer provided Alkafaween with a ride to “a location” in Orland Park.

Due to the lawsuit, Nuesse said, the department would not comment further.

Alkafaween’s attorneys said their client was disoriented and wandered into traffic where he was struck by a driver who did not see him.

Casciato said Alkafaween was then taken back to Silver Cross Hospital where he stayed until Jan. 18. He had a traumatic brain injury, the effects of which his attorneys said Alkafaween will live with for the rest of his life.

“Qusai today is a shell of the man that he once was, unfortunately,” said Mohammad Owaynat, another attorney for Alkafaween. “He’s trying his best to recover and make the most out of his situation, but what happened to him is traumatizing.”

Casciato said due to the brain damage Alkafaween suffered, he has experienced cognitive impairments which make him unable to attend college or hold more than a menial job. Alkafaween had plans to enroll at the University of Illinois at Chicago and was in the U.S. away from his family in Jordan, according to a news release.

The attorneys read a statement from Alkafaween’s mother, Ikhla Alraqad, in which she said her son had “so much hope and promise,” but “everything is now shut off for him.”

“Although the legal system cannot give me back my son the way he once was, it is important for those who are responsible (to) be held accountable for their reckless conduct that forever changed the life of Qusai and of our entire family,” Alraqad said.

The attorneys also showed a 10-second clip of separate body camera footage in which a New Lenox police sergeant, whom they did not identify, spoke with Silver Cross Hospital staff about Alkafaween.

The sergeant can be heard saying, “We’re not taking him all the way to Chicago and we’re not taking him all the way to Orland Park.

“Hopefully he doesn’t ping-pong and come back here to you guys,” the sergeant said.

Casciato said the comment showed there was “no care” for Alkafaween when he should have been brought to a mental health facility.

The lawsuit also accused Silver Cross Hospital of medical negligence for wrongfully discharging Alkafaween since it was unsafe for him to be let go because he was experiencing a mental health crisis.

A receptionist at Silver Cross Hospital referred questions for Nejak to a spokeswoman.

“We do not comment on pending litigation,” said Deb Robbins, a spokeswoman for Silver Cross in a statement.

The attorneys said they are seeking damages to cover Alkafaween’s medical expenses and the care he will need for his injury.