On July 18, following the approval of a $2.5 million settlement for the Mendez family, father Gilbert Mendez and his son Peter, with their attorneys, spoke to members of the media at the Law Offices of Al Hofeld, Jr.
The Mendez Family waited nearly eight years for justice, after heavily armed Chicago Police Department officers—serving a no-knock warrant on the wrong address—broke in their door, stormed into their home, and held their two young children at gunpoint.
According to the lawsuit filed on the family’s behalf, on November 7, 2017, while executing an invalid search warrant for the wrong apartment, Chicago police officers repeatedly pointed and held guns directly at Jack and Peter Mendez, ages 5 and 9, as well as at their mother and father in the boys’ presence, while in the family’s home. On the bodycam footage, Peter can be heard crying and pleading for officers not to shoot and kill his father. Meanwhile, footage shows officers continuing to search the family’s apartment, even after acknowledging to each other on tape that they were in “the wrong f—ing apartment.”
The lawsuit went before a jury on April 21, 2025, with the family represented by Julia Rickert and Justin Hill of Loevy + Loevy, and Al Hofeld and Zack Hofeld of The Law Offices of Al Hofeld, Jr. But a settlement agreement was reached midway through the trial. On July 16, the Chicago City Council approved that settlement, agreeing to pay the family $2.5 million.
“They are incredibly brave,” Loevy partner Julia Rickert said of the Mendez Family. “This could have been so much worse than it was, if not for the presence of mind of the Mendez Family, and particularly of Gil. It’s really important for people to know that, in this instance, the City did nothing to show any consideration for the children in this house. They did nothing to ensure their safety, or to avoid traumatizing them. ”
At trial, the Mendez family’s attorneys presented evidence that both Peter and Jack suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as the result of officers’ conduct during the raid. Peter Mendez was only nine years old when police held him and family at gunpoint. On the body camera footage, you can hear him begging police not to shoot his father.
Now 17 years old, Peter spoke at a press conference about the settlement on July 18th.
“It’s been a very long journey,” he said. “Almost eight years now, and it’s taken a toll. Now I can finally end this chapter of my life.”
In 2019, as a result of this incident, Gov. Pritzker signed the “Peter Mendez Act”—named for the family’s oldest son—requiring Illinois police officers to receive training on how children experience trauma, and training on de-escalation tactics for when children are involved. In 2022, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) sustained allegations of misconduct in the Mendez raid against all six officers and recommended they receive suspensions, with CPD’s concurrence.
“It isn’t just the Mendez Family,” says Rickert. “This is a broad problem in the City, it does happen all the time, and it only happens in certain communities. It’s very important that they’ve come forward, and pushed hard for all these years, to make this difference.”
Read the complaint in this case here.
