Chicago police officer with $10 million history of misconduct cases could cost taxpayers another $332,500

Veteran Chicago Police Lt. Andrew Dakuras has been named as a defendant in at least five misconduct lawsuits that, together, have cost Chicago taxpayers nearly $10.5 million.

He’s been the subject of 82 misconduct complaints — more complaints than 99% of all Chicago police officers — according to a tally compiled by the Invisible Institute.

Another $332,500 soon could be added to that dubious settlement tally.

The City Council’s Finance Committee will be asked Wednesday to authorize that settlement to Jeanette Bass, a former Gold Coast resident who claims she was arrested, physically and emotionally abused and involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric ward because of alleged misconduct by Dakuras.

The bizarre incident occurred on June 23, 2019 at Bass’ condominium at 260 E. Chestnut.

According to the elderly woman’s lawsuit and the attorney who filed it, Bass had accused the building’s management company of entering her apartment without her consent while she was naked.

When Bass subsequently saw a copy of the police report of that incident, she “didn’t think it was accurate” and called the Chicago Police Department seeking to correct it.

Bass was told the changes could not be made over the phone and dispatched Dakuras to talk to her in person.

Their interaction, captured on bodycam video, went south after Dakuras “decided he could play with the mind” of a woman he apparently concluded was emotionally “fragile,” according to Gregory Kulis, her former attorney, who filed the lawsuit.

“He comes in her kitchen and goes, 'Jeanette, are you OK? Do you need some help?’ And she goes, 'Yes, I’m OK. You’re not really helping me. I want to change this report.’ She finally says, 'Will you just please leave? You’re not helping me.'” And he keeps saying, 'Are you in distress?' He’s just egging her on. … He wouldn’t step out,” Kulis told the Sun-Times.

“She walks out of her apartment, and he starts following her and basically egging her on, saying, 'Jeanette, Jeanette.' She goes down the stairs. He grabs a hold of her in kind of a rough manner. She goes down on the ground. He calls for police, says 'I need a wagon.' And he suggests that she be sent to Northwestern [Memorial] Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. She’s thrown into Northwestern and they hold her for a few days before she was ultimately released. … That’s illegal.”

Bass could not be reached for comment. She has since moved to California.

Kulis questioned how a 29-year veteran police officer with such a dubious record could possibly have been promoted to lieutenant before his checkered past caught up with him.

At one point, the court granted the city’s motion for summary judgment in the Bass case, temporarily dismissing the woman’s lawsuit. The city ultimately agreed to the $332,500 settlement after that decision was appealed.

“He played with her mind. And he kept saying, 'Jeanette, are you in distress? Do you need a doctor?' The way this guy was egging her on. He recognized the weakness that she had psychologically. He saw that she was kind of fragile. And he just played with her. It was just cruel. He was so sarcastic. So arrogant,” Kulis said. "This guy should not be a police officer."

Three months ago, Dakuras was stripped of his police powers after a video surfaced on social media that appeared to show the off-duty cop screaming obscenities and racial slurs at a fellow bar patron.

Three years before that, a federal jury found Dakuras used excessive force — and ordered the city pay $35,000 in damages and then-Sgt. Dakuras to pay $18,000 out of his own pocket — to compensate a Cubs fan he was accused of beating and kicking outside Wrigley Field in 2016 after the Cubs won their first World Series since 1908.

That lawsuit accused Dakuras of striking the bar-hopping Cubs fan in the chest and snatching his phone while yelling, “Come on, mother f——-. Let’s go.”

When the fan appealed to a uniformed officer for help, Dakuras purportedly said: “I’m an undercover cop. You’re f——- now.”

That fan also accused Dakuras of saying, “I love this part. Free shots,” before striking the fan repeatedly in the head while other officers held the fan down.

Dakuras has also been honored over the years for helping to rescue a woman under attack by an abusive boyfriend.

In 2004, Dakuras and his Narcotics Section partner received the prestigious Lambert Tree Award for risking their lives to apprehend two people who fired on them near Grand and Austin.

That incident earned Dakuras the nickname, “Buns of Steel” for surviving a shot to the posterior after being lucky enough to have the bullet lodged in the wallet tucked away in his back pocket.

Neither the Law Department nor the Chicago Police Department would comment on the pending settlement.