An inmate being held in the McHenry County Jail for the armed robbery of a police detective in Beach Park has filed a lawsuit against the sheriff seeking $100,000 after he was attacked by another inmate.
Patrick Neal, 23, of Beach Park, filed a lawsuit in McHenry County Circuit Court against the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office.
Neal was being held in the McHenry County Jail on Lake County armed robbery charges. The Lake County Jail has an agreement with the McHenry County Jail to house Lake County inmates due to staffing constraints.
Neal, who is representing himself, alleges prison condition civil rights violations and 8th and 14th Amendment violations, as well as negligence and “cruel and unusual punishment.”
Neal said he was placed in handcuffs and leg cuffs waiting to be taken to Lake County court when he was attacked by another inmate who was uncuffed.
“I am tramitized and still have pains from that day I did not get medical help due to me being angry and upset because of me being attacked,” Neal said in the lawsuit, adding “I dont understand why I was attacked the jail was suppose to be protected.”
An incident report shows the attack happened on February 27 and said that Trashaun King, who was also a Lake County inmate, jumped a half wall in front of a cell to attack Neal, who was already cuffed and shackled.
The report said King threw Neal to the ground and “started to throw punches” at him. Officers took King to the ground and restrained him.
Neal is seeking $100,000 in the lawsuit, which is set for an initial scheduling conference on July 21.
Neal is currently facing charges of armed robbery, aggravated unlawful possession of a machine gun, unauthorized possession of a firearm by a street gang member, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon.
Those charges stem from a March 2024 armed robbery of a Lake County sheriff’s detective who was undercover.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Group (SIG) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Chicago Field Division were conducting a purchase of firearms from a 17-year-old Beach Park boy who was trafficking guns.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said an undercover detective met with the 17-year-old to purchase a firearm.
The detective met with the juvenile in a parking lot in the 38400 block of North Sheridan Road in Beach Park and the juvenile pulled a semi-automatic pistol from his waistband while the two were talking, Covelli said.
The suspect charged the firearm by racking the slide, pointed the gun at the detective’s face and demanded the detective give him the money he came with to buy the firearm.
The juvenile told the undercover detective that he would “blow his brains out” if he did not comply, Covelli said.
The undercover detective complied and gave the money to the juvenile, who then fled on foot.
Multiple other detectives monitoring the transaction moved in during the armed robbery, Covelli said.
The juvenile was taken into custody after a brief foot chase. The juvenile threw the firearm he used in the robbery during the chase, which was later located by Lake County Sheriff’s Canine Duke.
The money the juvenile stole from the undercover detective was also recovered.
Covelli said two suspects who were acting as the juvenile’s lookout during the armed robbery were also apprehended by detectives.
One was a 16-year-old from Kenosha, Wisconsin, who was armed with a semi-automatic pistol that had been converted to be fully automatic with an extended magazine.
The other was Neal, who was also armed with a semi-automatic pistol converted to be fully automatic with an extended magazine. Neal is a documented street gang member.
Sheriff’s detectives obtained and conducted a search warrant at the 17-year-old boy’s home, Covelli said.
They located an AR pistol loaded with a rifle round, ammunition, extended magazines and a drum magazine.
The 17-year-old was transported to the Hulse Juvenile Detention Facility and petitioned on the charges of armed robbery, three counts of unlawful use of a weapon and obstructing a peace officer.