Illinois Cop Charged in Brutality Caught on Video

Video of the woman being slammed into a jail-cell bench went viral

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The Illinois police officer who was sued by a Chicago woman after being caught on video shoving her onto a jail cell bench was charged Wednesday with aggravated battery and official misconduct over the incident.

Skokie, Ill., cop Michael Hart allegedly pushed Cassandra Feuerstein so hard her face slammed into the concrete bench of a jail cell, breaking her eye socket, cutting her cheek, and loosening her teeth. According to her attorney, Feuerstein still suffers from numbness and vision problems even after reconstructive surgery and having a titanium plate put in her cheek. Feuerstein, 47, was arrested March 10 on suspicion of drunk driving, to which she later pleaded guilty, after she was found asleep in her car parked beside the road, the Chicago Tribune reports.

According to his attorney, Hart, 43, has never been disciplined or subject to an excessive force complaint in his 19-year police career. The criminal charges against him came after Feuerstein filed suit in federal court alleging police brutality and released the video of the incident online.

Hart posted bail, was suspended with pay and ordered to turn over his firearms pending an internal police investigation.

[Chicago Tribune]