A woman, who alleges that a group of police officers severely beat her on Oct. 12, said that officers screamed anti-gay slurs at her.
According to her attorney, John Lyke, police called her "dyke bitch" as a group of between 4-10 officers assaulted her.
Lyke said he has "no idea" why police allegedly went after his client.
The incident occurred near Kedzie and Huron on Chicago's West Side.
Jermeka Neil said she was in the passenger side of her friend's car when the incident occurred. Neil was heading from work at 11 p.m. with a friend. The two had picked up Neil's sister and baby and stopped at the liquor store on the way home.
According to Lyke, an unmarked police car slammed into the car Neil was in, causing the group to fear they were being car-jacked. Neil's friend sped away, and police followed and turned on their lights. Realizing it was police, Neil told her friend to stop the car.
When he did, she said, officers forced her out and started beating her.
"She yells, 'I'm a girl' because she was in masculine dress," Lyke said.
Lyke said that officers then started calling her a "fucking dyke."
Lyke said that others in the car were assaulted, including the baby who police allegedly called "an animal."
Neil was arrested for allegedly assaulting officers.
Lyke hopes the incident will be prosecuted as a hate crime against officers. In addition to the anti-gay slurs, he said, all of the officers involved were white. Neil is black.
A spokesperson for Chicago Police Department News Affairs office said that he could not comment on the incident.
Windy City Times will update as more details become available.
