Man Awarded $1 Million After Being Wrongfully Accused Of Police Assault

A Chicago man who was wrongfully accused of assaulting a police officer during a traffic stop back in 2007 is finally reaping the benefits of his jury-awarded victory.

via NBC Chicago

Cook County jurors on Tuesday awarded $1 million to a man who was wrongfully held in jail for more than a year.

John Collins, a 42-year-old Chicago barber, was arrested in 2006 and spent 385 days in jail due to false charges of aggravated battery to a police office, officials said.

After a three-day trial, a jury found the city of Chicago and Chicago police Officer Michael Garza guilty of malicious prosecution.

“I felt like a right in the pool of wrong,” Collins said of his time in jail. “I didn’t want to swim in that pool no more, but I didn’t want to drown either. So I kept fighting.”

When officers pulled Collins over in 2006,one officer accused him of kicking and spitting on them, but a jury acquitted Collins and he was released from Cook County in 2007.

“All I know is that I ended up a victim,” he said.

Collins [also] missed the birth of his now 7-year-old son Elwood while in jail, a moment he said he can never get back.