Mr. Mason is a life-long resident of the city currently living in the Wrightwood neighborhood and is a telecommunications analyst at Northwestern Hospital. He suffered a fracture to the orbital bone around his left eye and numerous bruises about his body as officers kicked him while he lay on the ground.

The attack began after Mr. Mason, an African American, was riding with his then-fiance, Ms. Kyley Johnson, a Caucasian woman, when she was pulled over by Chicago police officers Michael Garza and Elizabeth Briggs near the corner of 83rd and Ashland. Officers Garza and Briggs both testified under oath that they stopped Johnson's van because a light was out over the rear license plate, even though the police car and van had approached each other from opposite directions. Ms. Johnson explained to the officers that she had accidentally left her driver's license at home.

Officer Garza ordered Ms. Johnson outside of the vehicle and searched her. Officer Briggs then asked Mr. Mason to get out of the van and searched him. Briggs then asked Mason to put his hands behind his back to be handcuffed, to which Mason replied that he had done nothing wrong.

Garza then proceeded to punch and kick Mr. Mason, swearing at him as he did so. At least three more officers arrived on the scene and also began punching and kicking Mr. Mason, who by this time had been forced to the ground.

After Mr. Mason was handcuffed lying face down on the concrete, Garza lifted up Mason's head by grabbing his clothing around the shoulders and kneed Mason in his left eye socket, fracturing the orbital bone.

Bleeding profusely from his face with his left eye swollen shut, Mason was transported to the 79th and Halsted police station, thrown into lock up and denied medical care through the night despite calling out for officers to help him. To justify their brutality, Garza and Briggs falsely charged Mason with assault and resisting arrest – charges that were eventually resolved in a manner indicative of his innocence. The next morning Mason was released on an I-bond and sought medical attention. He missed work for nearly a month due to his injuries.

The Police Department declined to discipline Officers Garza and Briggs for their attack on Mr. Mason and the Cook County States Attorney's Office did not prosecute them criminally.