A Chicago man is suing the city and three CPD officers, alleging he was arrested when he tried file a report about bullets he says went missing from his legally owned firearm during a traffic stop.
Qwentin Howard, a registered gun owner who holds both a Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) card and a concealed carry license, alleges in a federal lawsuit that Officers Julian Irving and Sarah Abuosba pulled him over and placed his weapon in his trunk during the stop. Howard claims two bullets were missing when he retrieved the gun from his trunk after the stop.
He then drove to the Wentworth (2nd) District station, 5101 South Wentworth Avenue, to file a report about the missing ammunition. According to the lawsuit, that’s when things escalated.
Howard alleges that when he arrived at the station, he met with Irving and Abuosba, along with their supervisor, Officer John Sanders, and informed them he would be recording the interaction to protect himself. Sanders then allegedly ordered Howard to produce a physical FOID card, despite Howard having already shown Irving an electronic version during the traffic stop earlier that day.
When Howard insisted that an electronic card was legally sufficient, as it is under Illinois law, Sanders allegedly told him, “Well, you have a problem now because you’re accusing my officers of stealing your bullets.”
Howard alleges he apologized if he was mistaken, explaining he simply did not want any bullets linked to him turning up later. Sanders allegedly ordered Irving to detain Howard. Howard was handcuffed and arrested. Abuosba told Howard he was being arrested because he “wanted to escalate the issue and make it bigger than it had to be,” the lawsuit claims.
Howard was charged with unlawful use of a weapon for allegedly failing to carry a physical FOID card. The charges were later dismissed, according to the lawsuit.
Howard’s suit alleges First Amendment retaliation, malicious prosecution, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He contends the arrest was punishment for exercising his constitutional right to petition the government by trying to file a police report.
U.S. District Judge Manish Shah ruled this month that Howard’s retaliation and malicious prosecution claims may proceed. The judge found it plausible that the officers lacked probable cause to arrest Howard, noting that Irving had already seen Howard’s electronic FOID card during the traffic stop and that Illinois law explicitly permits electronic FOID cards. The judge dismissed the intentional infliction of emotional distress claim, finding that while the alleged conduct may have been improper or illegal, it did not rise to the legal threshold of “extreme and outrageous.”
