A federal jury on
Friday awarded a combined $33,700 in damages to four men who accused several
off-duty Chicago police officers of an unprovoked beating inside the Jefferson
Tap Bar & Grille in 2006.
The jury did not award any damages against the city, which
had also been sued.
Four of the six officers who were hit with damages by the
jury are responsible for paying the damages themselves.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs did not seek a specific amount
in damages.
The release of a videotape of the tavern beating hastened
the retirement of then-police Superintendent Phil Cline, who was already under
fire for abuses by the Special Operations Section and a high-profile,
videotaped beating of a female bartender by another off-duty police officer.