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Crime & Safety

Lawsuit: COD Cop Took Photo With Unconscious Beating Victim

Allegations claim campus police did not heed warning of attack.

A former student claims campus police did not protect him from a 2010 beating on the Glen Ellyn campus, according to a recently filed lawsuit.

William Kendrick's allegations go a step further, alleging that after the attack, a COD officer posed for a photograph with Kendrick as he lay unconscious on the steps of the Student Resource Center.

Kendrick filed suit in late April against the school and unidentified police officers on grounds they failed to stop--despite warnings--a group of non-students from carrying out "violent intentions." The lawsuit doesn't specify whether Kendrick reported the group or if he was the intended target.

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However, the lawsuit describes Kendrick as having been "violently and viciously beaten about the head and face," causing head injuries and a loss of vision. He seeks financial damages, in part, to cover the large medical expenses he incurred from those injuries.

A College of DuPage spokesman said the school could not comment on pending litigation. Kendrick's attorney did not immediately return a message seeking comment this week. The case is scheduled for a court date later this year.

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The lawsuit states COD police were told on April 28, 2010, that a group of six to 10 non-students "were present on campus for the purpose of doing bodily harm to a College of DuPage student." Details of the attack are scarce in the court records, except to state Kendrick was attacked from behind. It was not immediately clear whether any criminal charges were filed in connection to the attack.

The police department's 2010 safety report - the most recent posted on the College of DuPage website - indicates such attacks are rare, with only one aggravated assault on the Glen Ellyn campus in 2007 and 2009. The Illinois State Police annual crime report shows one aggravated assault/battery handled by COD police in 2008 and 2009.

The allegations take a somewhat unexpected turn as the lawsuit describes Kendrick staggering toward the Student Resource Center and falling unconscious outside.

"After the beating, while (Kendrick) lay helpless on the steps of the SRC an officer of the College of DuPage police department ... propped up (Kendrick) by the head for the purpose of posing with the still unconscious (Kendrick) for a media photograph," the suit states.

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