Charges have been dropped against an Oak Lawn police officer accused of beating a teenager in July 2022

Cook County prosecutors on Wednesday dropped charges against an Oak Lawn police officer charged in connection with the violent arrest of a then-17-year-old Bridgeview teenager in July 2022, court records show.

Patrick O’Donnell was charged with aggravated assault and official misconduct for allegedly punching the teen more than 10 times in the face and head as he lay facedown in the street during the arrest, which was captured on video.

O’Donnell has worked for the department since December 2014 and pleaded not guilty in March 2022 after being charged in February.

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office has decided not to pursue the charges, according to a Wednesday filing in the court filing. The Arab American Action Network has planned a protest outside the prosecutor’s office on Thursday morning to protest the decision.

Muhammad Sankari, the network’s main organizer, said representatives had attended almost all preliminary hearings and were shocked during a brief hearing Wednesday morning when prosecutors announced they were dropping all charges a day before the trial began.

“You make a statement, just a few short sentences, and that’s all, as if nothing happened, as if everyone who saw the brutal beating of that young teenager a few years ago didn’t see it, and we “We should all just go over our lives,” Sankari said.

“The state has had this case since February 2023, almost two years, and the day before the scheduled trial they sent in their ASAs to drop the charges. It’s absolutely disgusting and a travesty,” he said.

For Sankari, prosecutor Eileen O’Neill Burke’s decision suggested that this was what she had always intended when she took office. With the decision, Sankari said, the prosecutor is sending “a message” to the Arab community: “You can beat them brutally, you can repeatedly smash their skull into a sidewalk.” And Eileen Burke will ensure that you face any consequences from that “Be able to walk away.”

The public prosecutor’s office did not immediately comment on the decision to dismiss the charges on Wednesday.

The arrest sparked protests in the village outside the police station and at village meetings, including police and fire department meetings.

The teenager and his family have a separate federal case pending against Oak Lawn police, which was stayed while O’Donnell’s criminal case continued.

O’Donnell was one of three officers involved in the July 27 arrest, which began with a traffic stop and ended with the teenager running from officers and being chased.

He was the only one criminally charged, and the charges were filed by then-Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx while the State Police investigation into the arrest was still ongoing.

On July 27, O’Donnell was on duty and working in a marked patrol car when he flagged down a sedan carrying three juveniles that he said smelled of burnt cannabis, according to the district attorney’s office.

O’Donnell searched the vehicle and asked a passenger who was sitting in the back seat behind the driver to get out. The passenger ran away while being searched by the officer, prosecutors said.

O’Donnell chased him and ordered him to stop while a second officer, Brandon Collins, arrived and took the teen to the ground, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, in the 9500 block of South McVicker Avenue in Oak Lawn, O’Donnell began hitting the teen while Collins pulled on his arms. At one point, O’Donnell used his left hand to hold the teen by his head and hair while he “repeatedly” punched him in the face and head with his left hand, prosecutors said.

A third officer, Mark Hollingsworth, arrived and “applied a pressure point” behind the teen’s ear as O’Donnell continued to punch him, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, O’Donnell struck the teen more than 10 times.

Collins then used a Taser on the teen’s back and handcuffed him. A pistol was recovered from the youth’s pocket, the offer said.

The teen was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and treated for a broken nose, cuts and bruises and subdural bleeding.