CTA bus driver charged with filing a false police report

From the Chicago Tribune

A CTA bus operator who alleged that he was beaten by an off-duty Chicago police officer was charged Saturday with making a false report and obstructing justice.

But the lawyer for driver Ricardo Mendoza ripped the charges after Mendoza was released on $50,000 bond.

"These charges are absolutely ludicrous," attorney Craig Sandberg said. "The police clearly are trying to intimidate him."

The officer has not been charged in the incident . . .

. . . Sandberg questioned why it took police nearly two months to investigate the case and suggested charges were brought because Mendoza, 41, of the 5000 block of West Wellington Avenue, Chicago, filed a federal lawsuit against the officer, Thomas O'Grady. "It's a tactic they're using in the civil rights litigation," he said . . .

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