After being held in prison for nearly a year during a criminal trial for armed robbery charges, two men are suing Urbana Police for civil rights violations.
Quintin Brown, 28, and Wayne Colson, 24, were a charged for an alleged holdup that occurred on January 21st, 2018 at a house party. The charges against Brown were dropped on January 22nd, 2019, and State’s Attorney Julia Rietz claimed, “there is no physical evidence tying him to the robbery or the shooting,” Charges against Colson were dropped on February 11th, 2019.
According to Brendan Shiller, “officers fabricated an eyewitness identification to implicate” his clients, Brown and Colson. The lawsuit alleges that officers “withheld and concealed exculpatory evidence”, and that the Urbana Police coerced an identification, falsified police reports, and destroyed or altered witness statements.
The lawsuit names the City of Urbana, and Urbana Police Officers:
- Michael P Cervantes, 37 of Mahomet, IL
- Michael L Hediger, 55, of Champaign, IL
- Anthony T Meneely, 38, of Champaign, IL
- David D Roesch, 56, of St Joseph, IL
- Lt. Richard H Surles, 45, of Savoy, IL
- Sgt. Matthew J Bain, 43, of Champaign, IL
It should be noted that Surles is now the Deputy Chief, and Bain is now a Lieutenant.
The implications are especially haunting given that, for the past few years, Richard Surles has been trusted with hosting Taser and use of force reviews for the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB). During the past year especially, citizens have been vocal in their criticism of the police review process. Surles has, multiple times, been the target of criticism by citizens alleging false or creative reporting of police misconduct. A federal lawsuit alleging and investigating such behavior by the second in command will not fare well for the already degrading reputation of the Urbana Police Department.
Full copies of the Colson and Brown lawsuit documents can be viewed on ILDocs.com under “Repository of Lawsuits”.