Woman Who Was Allegedly Handcuffed By Police While Naked To Get $2.9 Million

During a botched police raid in 2019, a woman was handcuffed by cops while she was naked, and now a Chicago City Council committee has recommended to pay $2.9 million to her.

According to Chicago Sun-Times, closed-door briefings were held Sunday evening when alderpersons (elected members of a city council) were told about the proposed settlement amount.

The settlement for Anjanette Young has already been approved by the City Council’s Finance Committee, and now it will appear on the full council’s agenda Wednesday, reported Chicago Tribune.

City corporation counsel Celia Meza said Monday that the city has "never disputed Young suffered an indignity” during the raid.

Young is alleging wanton and willful conduct by the city and cops, and that cops violated a standard of duty of care during the raid that happened about two years ago. Meza said that the Civilian Office of Police Accountability found some cops engaging in such conduct during the raid, which would make it difficult for the city to defend itself in court.

Thirteen cops raided Young’s house in February 2019 after getting a tip that a man with an illegal firearm lived in the property. They restrained her while she was preparing to get to bed and forced her to stand handcuffed while she was naked as officers searched her house.

Meza said that cops would testify that Young was naked just for 16 seconds before a jacket followed by a blanket were placed on her. It was apparently 10 minutes before cops let her go to her bedroom to put on some clothes.

If the case went to trial, a jury might award her $16 million -- $1 million for every second she was naked or $13 million -- $1 million for each officer in her house.

Southwest Side alderman Raymond Lopez, 15th, said that though Young has agreed to the settlement, she should have gotten more, in part because the administration has “revictimized” her in its dealings with her since the incident came to be known. Lopez said that to be at less than $3 million, he doesn’t think it does justice for Young while it is good for taxpayers.

The incident came to light in December last year after Mayor Lori Lightfoot's administration tried to get an extraordinary order to stop CBS-2 from broadcasting video of the police raid. Later, the mayor apologized to Young for the police raid and promised to resolve her lawsuit against the city.

The $2.9 million settlement will add to a staggering amount that the city has given to people in police misconduct cases in the last few years, according to ABC News. According to a 2016 Associated Press analysis, the city had paid more than $660 million on the cases since 2004, and in 2019, the total had gone up to more than $750 million.