Law Offices of Al Hofeld, Jr. LLC

10/31/2024

A misdemeanor trespass can cost you your life in Cook County Jail. It did for Johnny. We represent his mother and sister in their quest to hold the Cook County Sheriff accountable.

The accused killer has a decade-long documented history of attacking law enforcement, inmates, and mental health staff. He was even issued a jail ID card alerting staff of his security threat.

09/23/2024

After a six-year fight against the Chicago Board of Education, Hofeld Law won this record-setting verdict for Jomaury Champ.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/09/19/its-not-who-we-are-jury-awards-cps-student-beaten-at-school-with-belts-750000/?lctg=B4DD143574ACA469944E840448&utm_email=B4DD143574ACA469944E840448&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chicagotribune.com%2F2024%2F09%2F19%2Fits-not-who-we-are-jury-awards-cps-student-beaten-at-school-with-belts-750000%2F&utm_campaign=CT-Breaking-News&utm_content=alert&fbclid=IwY2xjawFerCtleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHWmlieIEx3XATwXAQDdFWQvRxBkqBt7ZUQrjuBiUL-5T71JzTdCx44fTQg_aem_9RFqmWgpLtVs_0_ixmdcCA

11/13/2023

CBS reporter Dave Savini discusses the needless torture of a 14-year-old special needs teen represented by the Law Offices of Al Hofeld, Jr.

An expert's examination of decades of lawsuits involving Tasers found they were used on a disproportionate number of children of color and children with disabilities.

11/03/2023

Our latest case filed yesterday as we continue to advocate for children whose civil rights have been violated.

A suburban grandmother is suing Joliet police and others, alleging a botched raid at her home left her and her grandchildren traumatized.

11/02/2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS CONFERENCE Thursday, November 2, 2023, 11:30 AM

FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS SUIT FILED; POLICE ENTER WRONG HOME, POINT GUNS AT GRANDMOTHER AND YOUNG CHILDREN, HOLD THEM FOR SIX HOURS

WHEN: November 2, 2023, 11:30 AM
WHERE: The Law Offices of Al Hofeld Jr. LLC, 53 W. Jackson Street, Chicago, Suite 432
NOTES: Family will attend; photos attached.

CHICAGO – In the early morning hours of November 2, 2021 at 228 Comstock in Joliet, a disabled, 62-year-old woman, Adela Carrasco, with her four, young grandchildren (ages 10, 12, 13 and 14) behind her, opened her front door to ten rifles and handguns pointed directly at her, according to a federal civil rights suit filed today. The officers shouted that they had an arrest warrant for ‘Elliot Reyes,’ who did not live there. In fact, officers already knew that the warrant was for 226, not 228 Comstock. Nevertheless, about a dozen law enforcement officers of the Joliet Police Department, Will County Sherriff’s Office and U.S. Marshal’s Service pushed Ms. Carrasco aside, forcing their way inside 228 Comstock, and pointed guns directly at her grandchildren before detaining them for six (6) hours for no lawful reason.

The officers did not actually have an arrest warrant for ‘Elliot Reyes’ but rather ‘Elian J. Raya’ who lived next door at 226 Comstock, the address on the warrant. According to the lawsuit complaint, it was crystal clear that 226 and 228 were two, separate residences with two separate entrances, and the officers knew that they were two separate residences. However, the officers were playing an intentional but bad game of “catch up”: in the wake of the tragic shooting death of two, 22-year-old individuals at an outdoor Halloween Party two days earlier in the community, the officers faced public pressure to make an arrest. With no leads, Joliet Police Detective Raymond Jansma decided to revive a never executed, 77-day-old warrant for the arrest of Elian J. Raya, an 18-year-old boy. Officers had not executed the warrant before then because neither Jansma nor any other JPD officer believed that Elian had committed the crime.

But this didn’t stop Defendant Officers from descending upon the 228 South Comstock residence on November 2, 2021, where they unlawfully forced entry without a warrant, consent, exigency, or any other lawful basis for entering a home. Furthermore, they pointed guns directly at all plaintiffs, including the children, at point blank range even though plaintiffs were fully compliant and despite the obvious fact that they posed no safety threat to the officers.

Following this, the officers entered 226 and found and arrested Elian J. Raya in 226. But the trauma for Ms. Carrasco and the children did not end there; in fact, it had hardly begun. Even though officers immediately took Elian to the police station, Ms. Carrasco and her grandchildren were nevertheless detained for the next six hours in 226. Officers told them they were being detained to allow time to secure a warrant to search the entire house.

During those six (6) hours, Ms. Carrasco’s requests to use the bathroom, get her asthma inhaler, etc., were all denied by officers. “This is unacceptable behavior towards young children and an elderly, disabled woman, regardless of the circumstances,” said Attorney Zach Hofeld. “There is a modicum of decency and reasonableness with which police must treat the elderly and children. The psychological injuries they suffered as the result of officers’ misconduct are profound and will remain with them for the rest of their lives.”

Without a search warrant or consent, in 228 officers also flipped mattresses, pulled clothing out of drawers and cut open couch cushions.

As irony would have it, months later three individuals were arrested and charged for the Halloween shooting. They currently await trial. None of them had any relation to Elliott Reyes, Elian J. Raya or 226 or 228 Comstock in Joliet.

Plaintiffs seek justice for Defendants’ egregious violations of their constitutional rights and their injuries, including their mental pain and suffering and ongoing, severe emotional distress.

10/12/2023

The Law Offices of Al Hofeld Jr. are proud to represent a minor who ended up on the wrong side of a police weapon.

The eighth-grader was being questioned about a broken window when an officer shot him, then blamed a weapon mix-up.

10/11/2023

02/09/2023

We were privileged to represent Amir. We secured apologies, retraining, etc., but the officer still has not been disciplined, so we are calling on the Cook County State’s Attorney to re-investigate based on our evidence

The attorney for Amir Worship said they reached a $12 million settlement for the boy, who is now permanently disabled after being shot in his knee during the police raid in May of 2019.

02/03/2023

We negotiated $12 million for Amir, two apologies and retraining for the officer, but it's not enough. The officer has not been disciplined. And no officer should be allowed to shoot a 12-year-old boy for literally no reason with impunity. We are calling on the Cook County State’s Attorney to investigate.

A Chicago-area boy still suffers from PTSD after a SWAT officer shot him inside his south suburban home while he sat in bed four years ago.

10/18/2022

Last week, we filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of and the Rockford School Board on behalf of our client Parris Moore. Parris suffered a fractured skull and permanent brain damage when a police officer at Auburn High School needlessly body-slammed Parris to the floor, as captured by a school camera. The officer and school then tried to cover up their misconduct, falsely telling Parris' grandmother that he had "slipped".

Seeking justice and a new school environment, Parris hired our firm and asked the district to allow him to transfer to another school. But the district not only heartlessly denied his request, it even threatened to refer Parris for criminal charges (despite any legal basis for doing so).

is coming for Parris.

Do you want to ? Share his story and contact the Rockford Public Schools at 815-966-3000 demand it allow Parris to transfer to another school in the district, so he can continue his education without suffering needless additional trauma.

No child should suffer unnecessary in the halls of their school.

The student's mother said her son suffered a traumatic brain injury at the hands of a school resource officer who was captured on surveillance video lifting and violently throwing him to the ground.