The City of Evanston faces a federal civil rights lawsuit after local police officers allegedly used excessive force during a January arrest that left a woman in a coma.
Attorneys from The Cochran Firm Chicago filed the lawsuit this week in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on behalf of the family of 42-year-old Felicea Williams.
According to legal counsel, Williams suffered a heart attack during the struggle with law enforcement and has remained comatose for five months following the incident.
The legal action names the City of Evanston alongside six individual police officers, accusing them of battery, violating Williams’ constitutional rights, and failing to intervene during a medical emergency.
City attorneys on Monday released a portion of the police body camera footage from the night of the arrest, which shows officers restraining Williams on the pavement.
The incident occurred on January 5, 2026, in the 1100 block of Howard Street near Barton Avenue, a busy commercial and residential corridor that divides the city of Evanston from the north side of Chicago.
Emergency dispatchers initially sent Evanston police officers to the scene at 9:38 p.m. following reports that two men were actively battering a person on the street.
Simultaneously, Chicago police officers received an emergency call regarding a stabbing at a tavern located on the Chicago side of Howard Street.
Patrolling Evanston officers arrived quickly and determined that Williams was connected to both active police investigations.
Responding officers reported that Williams was bleeding heavily from her face when they approached her, and a witness at the scene identified her as a participant in the altercation.
Police authorities state that Williams then ran directly into the roadway and attempted to force her way into an occupied vehicle while ignoring verbal commands from officers to stop.
As officers moved to detain her, police allege that Williams resisted arrest, spat blood and saliva into an officer’s mouth, and attempted to bite the officer’s unprotected hand.
Arresting officers then utilized physical force to subdue and handcuff Williams on the ground.
Personnel from the Evanston Fire Department arrived shortly after to transition Williams onto an emergency gurney for medical transport.
Williams became entirely unresponsive while in the custody of paramedics, prompting emergency personnel to initiate cardiopulmonary resuscitation before rushing her to a nearby hospital.
An internal police investigation later confirmed that Williams sustained her initial facial injuries from being battered by the two male suspects prior to police arrival.
Authorities subsequently charged the comatose woman with aggravated battery to a police officer.
Evanston police administrators transferred the case files to the Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force to conduct an independent review of the use of force.
The federal lawsuit counters the police narrative, alleging that responding officers used unreasonable physical control and ignored clear signs of severe medical distress.
Legal representatives state that the mechanical restraint applied by the officers directly induced the cardiac arrest that starved Williams’ brain of oxygen.
City officials and representatives for the Evanston Police Department did not immediately return requests for comment regarding the active federal litigation on Tuesday afternoon.
Community organizers have raised safety concerns regarding the late-night policing of the Howard Street border zone, where overlapping municipal jurisdictions often complicate emergency responses.
Local residents are advised to remain observant of emergency protocols and are encouraged to report any witnessed civil rights violations directly to independent oversight boards.
The independent state investigation into the actions of the six named Evanston officers remains ongoing.
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