K ick ing th e Pigeon

Parts I-III

Jam ie K alven

O N SUND AY, APR IL 13, 2003, at about 5:00 p.m ., D iane Bond, a 48 year-old m oth er of th ree, stepped out of h er

e igh th floor apartm ent in 3651 South Federal, th e last rem aining h igh - rise at th e Statew ay Gardens public h ousing

developm ent, and encountered th ree w h ite m en. Alth ough not in uniform , th ey w ere im m ediately recognizable by

th e ir postures, body language, and bulletproof vests as police officers. Bond gave m e th e follow ing account of

w h at h appened next.

“W h ere do you live at?” one of th e officers ask ed. H e h ad a round face and closely cropped h air. Bond later

identified h im as Ch rist Savick as.

"R igh t th ere," sh e pointed to h er door.

H e put h is gun to h er righ t tem ple and snatch ed h er k eys from h er h and.

K eeping h is gun pressed to Bond's h ead, h e opened h er front door and forced h er into h er h om e. Th e oth er

officers follow ed. As Bond stood look ing on, th ey began th row ing h er belongings around. W h en sh e protested,

one of th em h andcuffed h er w rists be h ind h er back and ordered h er to sit on th e floor in th e h allw ay of th e tw o-

bedroom apartm ent.

An officer w ith salt-and-pepper h air, w h om Bond later identified as R obert Stegm iller, entered th e apartm ent w ith

a m iddle-aged m an in h andcuffs and called out to h is partners, “We’ve got anoth er one.”

Bond’s 19 year-old son W illie Murph y and a friend, D em etrius Miller, w ere playing video gam es in h is bedroom at

th e back of th e apartm ent. Tw o officers entered th e room w ith th e ir guns draw n. Th ey ordered th e boys to lie face

dow n on th e floor, k ick ed th em , h andcuffed th em , th en stood th em up and h it th em a few tim es.

“W h y are you’all doing th is?” Bond protested.

Savick as cam e into th e h all and yelled at h er, “Sh ut up, cunt.” H e slapped h er across th e face, th en k ick ed h er in th e

ribs.

In th e course of search ing th e apartm ent, th e officers th rew Bond’s belongings on th e floor, break ing h er drink ing

glasses. Savick as k nock ed to th e floor a large picture of a brow n-sk inned Jesus th at sits atop a standing lam p in a

corner of th e living room .

“Would you pick up m y Jesus picture?” Bond appealed to h im .

“Fuck Jesus,” replied Ch rist Savick as, “and you too, you cunt b itch .”

Stegm iller th en forced Bond to h er feet, led h er into h er bedroom , and closed th e door.

“Give us som eth ing to go on,” h e told h er. “If you don’t, w e’ll put tw o bags on you.” H e took off h is bulletproof

vest and laid it on th e w indow sill. H e rem oved th e h andcuffs from h er w rists.

“Look into m y eyes, and tell m e w h ere th e drugs are. If you do,” h e gestured tow ard th e h allw ay w h ere th e m an h e

h ad brough t into th e apartm ent w as be ing h eld, “only th at fat m oth erfuck er w ill go to jail.”

Anoth er officer entered th e bedroom . Bond later identified h im as Edw in Utreras. “H as sh e been search ed?” h e

ask ed. “I’m not w aiting on no fem ale.”

APR IL 13, 2003

Utreras took h er into th e bath room and closed th e door. H e ordered h er to unfasten h er bra and sh ak e it up and

dow n. Sobbing, sh e did as h e told h er. H e ordered h er to tak e h er sh oes off. Th en h e told h er to pull h er pants

dow n and stick h er h and inside h er panties. Standing inch e s aw ay in th e sm all bath room , h e m ade h er repeatedly

pull h er panties aw ay from h er body, exposing h erself, w h ile h e look ed on.

“You’ve got th ree seconds to tell m e w h ere th ey h ide it or you’re going to jail.” Sh e extended h er arm s, w rists

togeth er, for h im to h andcuff h er and tak e h er to jail.

Utreras didn’t h andcuff h er. H e returned h er to th e h all and ordered h er to sit on th e floor. An officer sh e later

identified as Andrew Sch oeff w as beating th e m iddle-aged m an Stegm iller h ad earlier brough t into th e apartm ent.

Bond and th e boys look ed on, as h e repeatedly punch ed th e m an in th e face.

“H e w as beating h ard on h im ,” recalled D em etrius Miller. “Full force.”

K nock ed off balance by h is blow s, th e m an fell on a fram ed picture of th e Last Supper th at w as re sting on th e

sofa. Th e glass sh attered.

“Th ere ain’t noth ing in th is h ouse,” Bond k ept insisting. “Th ere ain’t noth ing in th is h ouse.”

“Give us th e sh it, and w e’ll put it on h im ,” said Stegm iller.

Th e nam e of th e m an to w h om h e referred, th e m an h is colleague w as beating, is Mik e Fuller. O n Fuller’s account,

h e h ad been descending from a friend’s apartm ent on th e sixteenth floor, w h en h e encountered Stegm iller com ing

up th e stairs betw een th e fifth and sixth floors.

“W h ere are you com ing from ?” Stegm iller dem anded.

“From th e sixteenth floor,” h e replied.

“You’re lying,” said Stegm iller. “You’re com ing from th e e igh th floor.”

H e grabbed Fuller and search ed h im . Finding $100, Stegm iller pock eted it, th en push ed h im up th e stairs. “I

w ouldn’t m ind sh ooting m e a m oth erfuck er,” h e said, “if you try to run.”

Stegm iller took Fuller to Bond’s apartm ent. “H e k ept telling m e th at’s w h ere I’d run to,” said Fuller. O nce inside

th e apartm ent, Stegm iller took a flash ligh t from a sh elf in th e k itch en and beat th e h andcuffed Fuller on th e h ead

w ith it. (“Th ey don’t beat you,” h e observed, “till after th ey cuff you.”) “If I find dope,” Stegm iller th reatened, “it’s

gonna be yours.”

“I saw h ow th ey ram sh ack led h er h ouse,” Fuller recalled.

Th e officers, h aving found no drugs, w ere now drifting out of th e apartm ent. Stegm iller m ade a proposition to th e

tw o boys: if th ey beat up Fuller, th ey could go free. “If you don’t beat h is ass,” h e told W illie, “w e’ll tak e you and

your m oth er to jail.”

Th e boys put on a sh ow for th e officers. (“H itting h im on th e arm s, fak e k ick ing,” Miller said later. “No h ead

sh ots.”) After th ey th rew a few punch es, Stegm iller intervened and rem oved Fuller’s h andcuffs “to m ak e it a fair

figh t.” Th e th ree rolled around on th e floor for a couple of m inutes. Th e officers look ed on and laugh ed.

“I told th e boys to m ak e it look good,” Fuller recalled. “It w as for th e ir am usem ent.”

Stegm iller applauded. H e left laugh ing. No arrests w ere m ade.

TH E SETTING

STATEW AY GAR D ENS, th e com m unity w h ere D iane Bond h as lived for th e last tw enty- seven years, is one of th e

h igh - rise public h ousing developm ents be ing redeveloped by th e Ch icago H ousing Auth ority as part of its “Plan

for Transform ation.” Bounded by 35th and 39 th Streets and State and Federal Streets, Statew ay originally consisted

of six seventeen- story and tw o ten- story h igh - rise s on 33 acres. It provided 1,644 units of fam ily h ousing. Under

th e redevelopm ent plan, private developers w ill build a “m ixed incom e com m unity” consisting of 1,315 units of

h ousing, 439 of w h ich w ill go to public h ousing re sidents. Th is “new com m unity” w ill be called Park Boulevard.

Th e Statew ay num bers — a net loss of 73% of th e original public h ousing units — reflect th e e ssential trajectory of

th e Plan for Transform ation. City officials and developers speak of th is m assive reallocation of public re sources to

private h ands in h igh ly m oralistic term s. Public h ousing developm ents, Mayor D aley h as rem ark ed m ore th an once,

lack “soul.” Th e new com m unitie s to be built on th e land cleared by dem olition w ill, so th e logic goes, re store th e

soul of th e city.

In a display th at w as part of an exh ib ition on th e Plan for Transform ation at th e Ch icago H istorical Society last

year— m ore an exercise in public relations for th e CH A th an h istorical inq uiry— Statew ay Gardens w as de scribed

as "isolated." Th is ch aracterization is consistent w ith th e prevailing social scientific discourse on urban poverty. It is

not, h ow ever, consistent w ith geograph y. It w ould be m ore accurate to say th at Statew ay, lik e m ost of th e CH A

arch ipelago, is not isolated but abandoned. Now th at th e re st of th e Statew ay buildings h ave been razed, D iane

Bond look s out from h er e igh th -floor apartm ent, over th e Bridgeport ne igh borh ood and th e Illinois Institute of

Tech nology cam pus, at th e dow ntow n sk yline. To th e w est, on th e oth er side of th e D an R yan Expressw ay, sh e can

see W h ite Sox Park . To th e east, sh e can see D e La Salle H igh Sch ool w h ere both Mayor D aleys w ent to sch ool.

And just out of sigh t, block ed from view by th e eastern tier of h er building, located th ree block s aw ay at 35th and

Mich igan, is th e adm inistrative h eadq uarters of th e Ch icago Police D epartm ent. As I h ave observed elsew h ere, th e

q uestion posed by th is landscape is: w h o h as isolated th em selves from w h om ?

* * * *

“IT’S LIK E A NIGH TMAR E,” Bond told m e th e day after h er encounter w ith th e police. “All I did last nigh t w as cry.”

W h en I k nock ed on h er door, sh e w as cleaning up. Sh e gave m e a tour and sh ow ed m e th e dam age — th e sh attered

picture of th e Last Supper, th e dam aged fram e of W illie’s h igh sch ool graduation picture, th e brok en drink ing

glasses, th e cloth es and objects strew n around W illie’s room , th e one room sh e h ad not yet cleaned up.

I h ad at th at tim e k now n D iane Bond for several years. In m y role as advisor to th e Statew ay Gardens re sident

council, I w ork ed out of an office on th e ground floor of 3544 S. State, th e building in w h ich sh e lived. Every so

often I w ould see h er in passing, m ost often going to or com ing from h er job as a public sch ool janitor. I didn’t

k now h er w ell but form ed an im pression of a ch eerful w om an in coveralls w h o m oved th rough th e turbulent scene

“up under th e building”— at once drug m ark etplace and village sq uare — w ith an easygoing, friendly m anner.

In Septem ber of 2002, 3544 S. State w as closed in preparation for dem olition. R esidents w ere given th e ch oice of

tak ing a h ousing vouch er and m oving into th e private h ousing m ark et or rem aining on site. Bond opted to m ove to

3651 S. Federal. W h en th e day cam e, th e CH A provided m oving vans for Bond and oth er re sidents relocating on site.

At th e end of th e day, I encountered h er, in a ch aracteristically ebullient m ood, ferrying th e last of h er posse ssions

across th e developm ent in a sh opping cart.

H er apartm ent in 3651 S. Federal is deeply inh abited. Tw o large, com fortable sofas, arrayed around a coffee table,

dom inate th e living room . Th e top of th e television cabinet functions as a sort of h ouse h old altar for religious

objects and fam ily ph otos, am ong th em pictures of h er th ree sons: D elfonzo, now 30 years old, Larry, 29 , and W illie,

21. Work ing as a janitor, Bond raised h er boys as a single m oth er. Sh e expresse s pride in th e fact th at th ey h ave

largely m anaged to stay clear of trouble in an environm ent w h ere th at is no sm all ach ievem ent. For th e last th ree

years, sh e h as been involved w ith a m an nam ed Billie Joh nson. Q uiet and gentle in m anner, Joh nson labors in th e

econom y of h ustle — repairing cars, h elping m aintain th e Statew ay Park D istrict field h ouse and grounds, doing odd

jobs for h is ne igh bors.

* * * *

AT MY UR GING, Bond w ent to th e O ffice of Professional Standards (O PS) of th e Ch icago Police D epartm ent to

register a com plaint against th e officers w h o sh e said h ad assaulted h er. As it h appens, th e O PS office is located at

35th and State in th e IIT R esearch Institute Tow er, th e 19 - story building visible from h er apartm ent th at stands lik e a

w all of glass and steel betw een Statew ay and th e IIT cam pus to th e north .

O PS investigates com plaints of excessive force by th e police. It is staffed by civilians and h eaded by a ch ief

adm inistrator w h o reports to th e superintendent of police. W h en som eone m ak e s a com plaint to O PS, an

investigator tak e s dow n h is or h er statem ent of w h at h appened. Th e individual is ask ed to review th e statem ent and

to sign it. In th eory, O PS conducts its ow n investigation, interview ing th e police officer(s) involved and any

w itnesse s, th en renders a judgm ent. In th e vast m ajority of cases, it finds th at th e com plaint is “not sustained”— i.e.,

th e investigators could not determ ine th e validity of th e allegations of abuse. In a sm all num ber of cases each year,

O PS sustains th e com plaint and recom m ends discipline for th e officer(s) involved. An officer facing discipline m ay

appeal to th e Police Board, a body com posed of nine civilians appointed by th e m ayor. Th e board h as th e pow er to

reduce th e punish m ent recom m ended by O PS or th e superintendent and to reverse O PS altogeth er.

O PS h as long been sh arply criticized by h um an righ ts activists w h o argue th at it functions not as a veh icle for

h olding th e police accountable but as a sh ield against such accountability. Th ey cite th e num bers. For exam ple, from

2001 th rough 2003, O PS rece ived at least 7,610 com plaints of police brutality. Significant discipline w as im posed by

th e CPD in only 13 of th ose cases — six officers w ere term inated and seven w ere suspended for 30 days or m ore. In

oth er w ords, an officer ch arged w ith brutality during 2001 – 2003 h ad less th an a one - in-a-th ousand ch ance of be ing

fired.

It is, th us, extrem ely unlik ely th at an O PS investigation w ill yield any m eaningful discipline for th e officers involved.

Yet it does not seem unreasonable to h ope th at a pending O PS investigation w ill at least serve to deter th e officers

nam ed from furth er contact w ith th e person w h o filed th e com plaint. Th at, at any rate, is w h at I told D iane Bond by

w ay of reassurance.

APR IL 28, 2003

O n th e evening of April 28, 2003— tw o w ee k s after sh e filed a com plaint w ith O PS about th e April 13

incident— D iane Bond returned h om e at about 7:30 p.m . from th e corner store. Sh e encountered O fficers

Stegm iller, Savick as, Utreras, and Sch oeff outside h er apartm ent door. Also present w as a fifth officer sh e later

identified as Joseph Se initz. H e w as tall and lean, in h is th irtie s, w ith closely cropped blond h air. Sh e recognized

h im as th e officer k now n on th e street as “Macintosh .”

Th e officers h ad tw o young m en in custody. D em etrius Miller w as one of th em ; sh e didn’t recognize th e oth er. H is

nam e, sh e gath ered, w as R obert Travis. Bond recounted th e incident to m e th e next day.

O ne of th e officers bark ed at h er, “Get th e h ell out of h ere!” Mom ents later, as sh e w as de scending th e stairs,

anoth er yelled, “Com e h ere!” Se initz cam e dow n th e stairs and grabbed h er. H olding h er by th e collar of h er

jack et, h e dragged h er back up to th e e igh th floor, h er body scraping against th e stairs.

W h ile Se initz h eld Bond, Savick as punch ed h er in th e face and dem anded, “Give m e your fuck ing k eys!”

“Th ey snatch ed m y jack et off and took th e k eys out of m y pock et,” s h e told m e. “I w as so scared, I pissed on

m yself.”

Th e officers entered h er apartm ent. Th ey ordered h er to sit on th e sofa in h er living room . Th e tw o young m en,

h andcuffed, sat on h er glass coffee table.

Stegm iller cam e in from outside th e apartm ent and placed tw o bags of drugs on th e top of h er m icrow ave. (H e

w ould later testify th at h e h ad found th e drugs in an “EXIT” s ign in th e corridor outside h er apartm ent.)

O ne officer stayed w ith Bond and th e tw o boys, w h ile th e oth er th ree search ed th e apartm ent. Th e officer leaned

back on h er television cabinet w h ere fam ily pictures and religious artifacts w ere arrayed. Sh e begged h im not to sit

on h er icon of th e Virgin Mary.

“Fuck th e Virgin Mary,” h e said, as h e sw ept h is h and across th e top of th e cabinet, k nock ing th e Virgin Mary and

oth er religious objects to th e floor.

Se initz and tw o oth er officer w ere search ing Bond’s bedroom . Th ey m otioned to h er to com e into th e room . Th ey

told h er to pull dow n h er pants. Th en th ey told h er to pull dow n h er panties.

Seinitz brandish ed a pair of needle-nosed vise -grips and th reatened to pull out h er teeth if sh e didn’t cooperate.

“W h y’d you pee on yourself?” one of th em taunted.

Th ey ordered h er to bend over w ith h er back to th em , exposing h erself. W h ile sh e w as in th at position, th ey

instructed h er to reach inside h er vagina "and pull out th e drugs."

Bond w as overcom e by terror. As a ch ild and young w om an, sh e h ad, sh e told m e, suffered repeated sexual abuse

at th e h ands of m en, including a gang rape w h en sh e w as a h igh sch ool student. Now, despite th e official

com plaint sh e h ad m ade against th e se officers, th ey w ere again sw arm ing around h er, th reatening h er, cursing h er,

forcing h er to undress. Sh e feared th ey w ould rape or k ill h er. "I didn't k now w h at th ey w ere going to do next." Sh e

only k new th at each th ing th ey did w as w orse th an th e last.

Th ey brough t h er back into th e living room . O ne of th e officers instructed Travis to “stiffen up,” as h e punch ed

h im repeatedly in th e stom ach .

“D o you w ant us to put a pack age on h er?” th e officer ask ed Travis.

“I don’t care w h at you do w ith h er,” h e replied.

Th ey left w ith th e tw o m en.

Bond lock ed th e door, collapsed on h er sofa, and w ept.

* * * *

A ne igh bor, Barbara W h ite, w h o lives on th e second floor of 3651 S. Federal, reported sh e too w as assaulted th at

nigh t by th e sam e group of officers after th ey left Bond’s apartm ent.

W h ite w as em ployed at th at tim e as a security guard. “I’ve lived h ere tw enty-tw o years,” s h e told m e, “and never

h ad any problem s.”

According to W h ite, a friend nam ed Bruce R eed cam e by at about 8:15 p.m . to see if sh e w anted anyth ing from th e

store. W h en R eed cam e to th e door, sh e w as in th e k itch en w ash ing dish e s. Sh e said no. W h en h e turned to leave,

five police officers w ere at th e door.

“W h at’s w rong?” W h ite ask ed.

“You put m y fuck in’ life in danger,” said one of th e officers. W h ite’s de scription of h im — w h ite, salt-and-pepper

h air, about 40 years old — fits Stegm iller. Sh e recognized h im as one of th e officers w h o som e m onth s earlier h ad

dem anded, in th e course of search ing h er 16-year-old goddaugh ter, th at th e girl expose h er breasts.

Stegm iller claim ed W h ite h ad yelled out th e w arning “Clean up!” w h en th e police first arrived at th e building earlier

th at evening. Sh e denied sh e h ad done so. H e slapped h er across th e face.

“You slap h er,” h e ordered R eed.

R eed refused. “I’m not gonna slap h er.”

“If you don’t slap h er, you’re going to jail.”

“You m igh t as w ell tak e m e to jail, ‘cause I’m not gonna put m y h and on h er.”

W h ite tried to get to th e teleph one to call 9 11. Stegm iller block ed h er path and th reatened h er, “Bitch , if you call

9 11, I’ll com e back and fuck you up m yself.”

Th e officers left. W h ite called 9 11 and req uested an am bulance w h ich took h er to Mich ael R eese H ospital. Sh e w as

exam ined, th en took th e bus h om e.

* * * *

Th e b asis for th is narrative is a serie s of interviews with Diane Bond , b eginning on A pril 14, 2003, and continu ing to th e present; interviews with W illie Murph y, Dem etriu s Miller, Mich ael Fuller, Barb ara W h ite, and Bruce R eed ; and th e plaintiff’s statem ent of facts in Bond v. Ch icago Police O fficers Utreras, et al, a fed eral civil righ ts su it b rough t b y Ms. Bond .

O fficers R ob ert Stegm iller, Joseph Seinitz, Ch rist Savick as, A nd rew Sch oeff, and E d win Utreras d eny h aving any contact with Ms. Bond on th e d ates alleged .

To b e continu ed ...

"K ick ing Th e Pigeon" Parts I- III w ere first publish ed on Th e View From Th e Ground (w w w.view from th eground.com ) betw een July 6th and July 8th , 2005.

"K ick ing Th e Pigeon" copyrigh t © Jam ie K alven 2005. Ph otograph of D iane Bond's apartm ent

copyrigh t © Jam ie K alven 2005. All oth er ph otograph s copyrigh t © Patricia Evans 2001-2005.

D esign and layout of th is book let copyrigh t © D avid Eads 2005. All righ ts re served except as

noted.

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