Chicago one of the men in charge of setting up a arson that resulted in the death of a firefighter on duty in Chicago has filed a federal lawsuit against four police officers in Chicago and the city, and claimed that they have “large amounts” of exculpatory evidence that he had no role in the case.
Prosecutors left all charges against Martez Cristler in October, 72 days after he was imprisoned in murder and arson. The other two men are still fighting the charges.
Jermaine Pelt, a veteran of the Chicago fire brigade, died of carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke and sootinhalation after rubble and a dresser fell on top of him and struck his noblem patch, while he said the fire in the 12000 block of South Wallace on April 4, 2023, said civil servants. He would have turned 59 the next day.
The judiciary officers accused the owner of the building, Cristler and a third man, and said they set the fire so that the owner could claim an insurance benefit.
The State claimed that surveillance video Cristler’s Infiniti QX80 had circled the block and said that a telephone number “associated with” Cristler in the area before, during and after the fire started. They said that Cristler and the third man repeatedly called each other while circling the block in their vehicles, according to public prosecutors.
However, the federal court case claims that the telephone number in question of Cristler’s father is and was never in the name of Martez Cristler. It is said that it was added to Cristler’s T-Mobile account in July 2023, three months after the fire and a year before the charges were submitted.
The lawsuit also claims that Cristler’s father bought and drove an infiniti that he registered in the name of his son. But Cristler only drives a Jaguar from 2014 who bought his grandfather, according to the complaint.
Cristler also claims that he slept at the house that he shares with his mother and younger brothers at the time of the fire.
Cristler’s lawsuit claims “coarse misconduct” by CPD researchers who “knew” that he did not commit the crimes. He was in the Cook County prison from 3 July to 3 October 2024. Public prosecutors dropped the case a week later.
Officers of Justice and the lawyers of Cristler agree on one point: he has no criminal record. In fact, at the time of his arrest, he owned a license from a firearm owner and a hidden carrier permit.
The lawsuit claims illegal detention and malicious prosecution under state and federal legislation.
The record of Cook County was the First to report About the lawsuit.
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