Two weeks afterall charges against theEmpirestar were dropped— stemming from accusations he staged an alleged early morning hate crime attack against himself on a Chicago sidewalk in January — andcity lawyers issued a demand letter to himon behalf of Chicago and their police department, requesting that the actor pay $130,106.15 to make up for overtime hours that were spent on the investigation, the City of Chicago has filed a civil action lawsuit against Smollett.
Jussie Smollett.Stephen Lovekin/Variety/REX/Shutterstock
PEOPLE is out to Smollett’s attorney for comment.
After Smollett filed the allegedly “false” reports to police at the end of January, the City “incurred” more than 1,800 “overtime hours” to investigate his case, the suit states.
“For the next two weeks, the CPD expended significant resources investigating [Smollett’s] false report of a high-profile hate crime and physical assault. Over two dozen CPD officers and detectives participated in the investigation, ultimately spending weeks investigating [Smollett’s] false statements,” the suit alleges. “During the course of CPD’s investigation into [Smollett’s] false statements, CPD has incurred 1,836 overtime hours, which resulted in the City paying $130,106.15 in overtime pay as a result of [Smollett’s] false statements.”
Smollett and his legal team previously said they had planned an “aggressive defense,” according to his attorneys Todd Pugh and Victor Henderson.
At the end of March, all charges against the Fox star were dropped, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office confirmed to PEOPLE.
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Later, the suit states that “because of [Smollett’s] false statements, the City expended significant resources and manpower, including but not limited to, $130,106.51 in CPD overtime pay that the City paid solely due to [Smollett’s] false statements.”
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The suit also details the alleged series of events from the night of “the staged attack,” including Smollett’s interactions with brothers Abimbola “Abel” and Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo. (They later issued a public apology for their role in the allegedly staged incident, expressing “tremendous regret” for their actions, according to a statement from their attorney.)
“[Smollett] told CPD officers that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic physical attack,” the suit states. “[Smollett] made this report to the CPD officers despite knowing that the purported attack was not for racist or homophobic motives, that his purported attackers were, in fact, his acquaintances, and that he had asked his purported attackers, the Osundairo Brothers, to stage the attack.”
Now, the City of Chicago is alleging that Smollett is guilty on two counts — violation of the FSO and CRO — and is seeking relief for both.
As for his alleged violation of the CRO, the City is requesting that the court “find that the City incurred necessary costs investigating and responding to [Smollett’s] statements made in violation of the MCC”; “order [Smollett] to pay the City’s response costs in an amount to be proven at trial”; “order [Smollett] to pay the City a penalty in an amount equal to the City’s litigation and collection costs and attorney’s fees”; and “award such further relief as this Court deems just and equitable.”
After charges against Smollett were dropped in March, his attorneys, Tina Glandian and Patricia Brown Holmes, released a statement to PEOPLE saying, “Today, all criminal charges against Jussie Smollett were dropped and his record has been wiped clean of the filing of this tragic complaint against him.”
source: people.com
