Outside Department Finds No Misconduct In Arrest Of Shaquille Dukes

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An independent investigator has found no evidence of police misconduct or racial bias in the arrest of a black patient who was accused by a white security officer of stealing equipment when he stepped outside a northern Illinois hospital last month while still attached to an IV stand, according to a report released Wednesday.

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Instead, the security officer “would have been negligent in his duties had he not stopped to inquire into what Dukes was doing outside,” because he knew that leaving Freeport Health Network still attached to an IV is not allowed, Davis wrote.

In a brief telephone interview, Dukes, who now lives in Chicago, disputed many of the conclusions in Davis’ report and said he still believes that he was a victim of an “overzealous, racist, security officer.”

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Davis, who was asked by Freeport’s city manager to conduct an independent probe, suggested in his report that Dukes was less than fully cooperative in his investigation, saying that Dukes failed to show up for two scheduled interviews. He said a doctor said he didn’t give Dukes permission to walk outside the hospital attached to an IV stand as Dukes contends.

Dukes acknowledged that he didn’t show up for two interviews, but said the first time was because of a death in his family and the second because one a relative of one of his friends had been shot. He said it was “totally incorrect” that the doctor had not given him permission to go outside.

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