Cop Who Killed Teen Sues for 'Extreme Trauma'

Officer Robert Rialmo sues estate of Quintonio LeGrier
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 7, 2016 8:30 AM CST
Cop Who Killed Teen Sues for 'Extreme Trauma'
A child holds a candle during a vigil outside Bettie Jones' home on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015, in Chicago. Jones and Quintonio LeGrier, 19, were killed by police responding to a domestic disturbance.   (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

The killing of a black teenager in Chicago in the final days of 2015 has a new lawsuit, and it's not from the side one might think: Officer Robert Rialmo is suing the estate of Quintonio LeGrier, the 19-year-old he says attacked him with a bat while he was responding to a domestic disturbance, prompting the fatal shooting and causing Rialmo "extreme emotional trauma." Rialmo's lawsuit is actually a countersuit in response to LeGrier's father's wrongful death claim, notes the Chicago Tribune; Rialmo is seeking $180,000 plus legal fees. Antonio LeGrier's lawyer had hard words in response: "After this coward shot a teenager in the back ... he has the temerity to sue him? That's a new low for the Chicago Police Department," says Basileios Foutris, calling the lawsuit "outlandish."

Rialmo accidentally shot and killed 55-year-old neighbor Bettie Jones as he fired at LeGrier. "He's got this extra added burden (with) the death of Jones," says Rialmo's lawyer, who notes that since the city of Chicago settled the case of Laquan McDonald for $5 million, "people are treating officer-involved confrontations like a lottery ticket and they're waiting to cash it in." (More Robert Rialmo stories.)

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