CPD Lt. Glenn Evans sues city, claiming bias in IPRA probe

Chicago Police Lt. Glenn Evans claims a bitter former colleague at the Independent Police Review Authority, and political pressure to look tough on “dirty” cops, led to his indictment last year for official misconduct and aggravated battery.

Evans filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against the city and 12 current and former employees of IPRA, the agency that investigates police misconduct.

The 30-year CPD veteran was acquitted last December after being charged with shoving a gun down a man’s throat, but he could still face suspension in the case of a woman who claims he fractured her eye socket following an arrest.

“IPRA has once again failed the citizens of the City of Chicago by not playing it down the middle with its investigations,” Evans said in a statement accompanying the suit. “Shooting victims and police alike deserve a fair and honest investigation.”

Evans claims Matrice Campbell — one of the 12 current or former IPRA employees listed as defendants in the suit — “has harbored animosity” toward him since Evans filed an insubordination complaint leading to her suspension in 1999, while they were working at CPD’s Second District.

While working at IPRA, Campbell then leaked documents from the Evans investigation to a WBEZ reporter “in order to harm Evans,” the suit claims. The public radio station and its reporter also are named defendants.

The ensuing media scrutiny and fallout from the release of the Laquan McDonald shooting video created “political pressures” for Cook County state’s attorney Anita Alvarez to press charges, Evans claims.

An IPRA spokeswoman declined to comment Thursday night. WBEZ and the city’s law department could not immediately be reached for comment.

The nine-count suit seeks an unspecified amount in damages.