Interim Police Chief, Deputy, Sued for False Imprisonment, Falsifying Evidence, Coercing Witnesses – Urbana, Illinois

On March 28^th, the Urbana, Illinois City Council voted to appoint Richard Surles as Interim Police Chief and Matthew Bain as Interim Deputy Police Chief.  The two were chosen by Mayor Diane Marlin and unanimously approved by the Council.

Both Surles and Bain are named in an ongoing lawsuit which alleges that the officers wrongfully imprisoned two men for a year. 

Wayne Colson and Quintin Brown were arrested and imprisoned by Urbana Police for an alleged robbery and shooting in January 2018.  A year later, they were both released after the State’s Attorney said there was no case for prosecution because there existed no physical evidence linking the men to the incident.

On January 22^nd, 2020 Colson and Brown both filed lawsuits (see stamped complaints here and here) against the City of Urbana and a number of specific Urbana Police officers.  Richard Surles and Matthew Bain were named first in the list of officers.

The lawsuits allege that Surles and Bain wrongfully imprisoned the two men, falsified evidence, and coerced witnesses into making false statements.  They further claim that the officers engaged in conspiracy to deprive the men of their constitutional rights, engaged in malicious prosecution, and caused “loss of liberty, monetary expenses, emotional distress, and other injuries.”

Matthew Bain was also named in a different lawsuit by plaintiff Cory Jackson, who also alleged witness coercion, falsification of evidence, fabrication of witness accounts, suppression of crime scene evidence, and similar claims of damages as described in the Colson & Brown lawsuits.

The lawsuits have been brought to the attention of the City Council numerous times over the past two years, but no one seems willing to comment on these issues.  The Urbana City Council has twice voted to promote Surles and Bain since the lawsuits were filed.

Complete pleadings for these cases can be found on the Illinois Documents Champaign County Lawsuits Page.  The Wayne Colson complaint (which is nearly identical to Brown’s complaint) is shown below (click image for full 10 page PDF).