City attorneys have settled with Alexander Ruppert, who said he was arrested and beaten by Chicago police because he was gay"and the development occurred as the civil trial was about to start, according to The Chicago Tribune.
According to a release from the Law Office of Erickson & Oppenheimer, which represented Ruppert, on March 5, 2006, two officers ( identified in the suit as Vincent Torres and Kent Pemberton ) took Ruppert, an AIDS patient, from the Uptown Lounge, 1136 W. Lawrence, and went a block away, where they beat him and called him homophobic slurs.
Ruppert suffered multiple injuries, including a head wound that need 16 stitches, the release noted. After beating Ruppert, the officers charged him with aggravated battery, one officer claiming that his knuckles were injured. The felony battery charges were later dropped when the officers refused to testify.
Ruppert's attorney, Jon Erickson, told Windy City Times that "Mr. Ruppert is extremely pleased."
A jury has been selected and opening statements given by both sides Dec. 8. The settlement occurred the following day.