Domenica Saverino had just pulled into the parking lot of her office on Hassell Road in Hoffman Estates on Sept.18, 2009, when escaped felon Robert Maday assaulted her at gun point and stole her car, according to a lawsuit filed today in Cook County Circuit Court. The fugitive had hijacked another driver 24 hours earlier after escaping from the vehicle of two Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office agents.
The suit, which names Maday, Cook County and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and agents as defendants, says that the agents transporting Maday to a Sept. 17 court hearing in Rolling Meadows did not follow the proper transportation protocol for moving prisoners.
Part of the lawsuit includes the complaint that The Cook County State Attorney’s Office agents used a vehicle that did not have “a secure cage” separating the prisoner from the driver.
Maday was able to overpower the agents near the Meijer store in Rolling Meadows, stealing one of their guns and a pair of trousers, before escaping. Maday was being transported from Joliet Correctional Center to the Cook County Circuit Court in Rolling Meadows.
Maday remained a fugitive for more than 24 hours, eventually “brutally and viciously” assaulting Saverino, according to the lawsuit.
Saverino claims she suffered post traumatic stress from the attack.
“This is a horrific event that people don’t experience every day. She has permanent anxiety, fear, sleeplessness, problems being alone, and re-occurring images of the event that she just can’t put away.”
— Martin Dolan, Domenica Saverino’s attorney.
A spokesman with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office said Thursday afternoon that they had not yet received the lawsuit and declined comment.
The Cook County State Attorney’s Office agents were eventually fired by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. State’s attorney’s investigators Nicholas Argentine and Joseph Fallon were suspended and fired for what an internal investigation called “an inexcusable and unacceptable inattention to duty.” The suit also alleges that Maday had a history of violence and had previously escaped from custody. Maday pled guilty to the attack in April 2010.
See related articles from The Cardinal one year ago …
Hassell Road Hijacking; Bloomingdale Bank Robbery at First American Bank
ARMED & DANGEROUS: Robert Maday Still At Large After Escaping from Custody
Carjack: Armed Robbery Suspect Disarms Two States Attorney Agents, Escapes with Weapons