Naperville man sues police for alleged unwarranted home search

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (WLS) -- A man is suing Naperville police over what he says was an unwarranted search into his home.

"I was shocked that this was going on in Naperville. I wondered why the police were involved in the first place, I didn't understand that," said Stephen Tracy, who is suing Naperville police.

Tracy and his landlord had been sparring about rent payments that were overdue on a home near downtown Naperville.

In mid-October, Tracy says he was present as his landlord had a Naperville police officer help him enter his home.

Tracy: "Officer, we are in court next week, you recognize that this is an illegal entry."

Officer Hull: "No it's not."

Tracy says he was working with his landlord to have an appraiser inspect the home. The inspector didn't show up with the landlord but Naperville Police Officer Michael Hull did.

"All I said was 'Where is your appraiser?' He said, 'There is no appraiser,' and I walked out and I pushed open the door and said, 'Then there is no inspection.'" Tracy said. "And then from there, Officer Mike Hull, who I didn't see when I approached the door, was hiding out of my view so when I opened the door, I heard, didn't see him. I said, 'There is no inspection,' and I heard someone say, 'Yes there is,' and that is when Officer Mike Hull wedged himself behind me and stood folding his arms like this."

Tracy says he was "uncomfortable" about the inspection arrangement because in recent weeks, he had seen Naperville police cars in front of his landlord's own home next door. So he recorded the meeting on his phone.

Tracy: "Do you have a warrant, sir?"

Officer Hull: "Quit asking me questions."

Officer Hull: "You are going to stay out here."

Tracy: "No I'm not."

Officer Hull: "You are."

Tracy: "This is my residence, officer."

Officer Hull: "He's going to be two minutes."

Tracy: "Officer, he has no right to be in my house."

Officer Hull: "Don't yell at me."

Tracy: "He has no right to be in my house."

Officer Hull: "Don't yell at me."

Tracy: "Do you have a warrant?"

Officer Hull: "I don't need a warrant."

Officer Hull: "Shut your mouth."

Soon after the incident, Tracy says he sent this complaint to Naperville Police Chief Robert Marshal via certified mail but never received a response. So last week, he filed a federal lawsuit contending his rights were violated by an illegal search and that Naperville police didn't investigate it.

Read the full lawsuit here.

"It's clear that there was no probable cause to enter his home, there was no warrant, there was no exigent circumstances. That's the parameters an officer needs to work under," said Gregory Kulis, Tracy's attorney. "In this case, it was pretty clear to me that officer Hull violated his Fourth Amendment rights by going into his home or allowing someone else to go into his home and preventing Stephen from going into his own home."

The ABC 7 I-Team reached out to both Hull and Marshal. Officer Hull told us in a statement: "Per our department policy, I am not allowed to discuss this matter."

Chief Marshal wrote in an email, "we do not comment on pending litigation."

Tracy's landlord, who is not named in the lawsuit, would not talk to the I-Team on camera. But in a phone conversation, he said his tenant was six months behind on rent and that "there should be no lawsuit." He said "nothing was done illegally."