Cook County officer sues WWE over alleged unwanted contact

Cook County sheriff’s officer Noel Lucas has sued World Wrestling Entertainment, wrestler Kenneth Crawford and Event Services, alleging Crawford subjected him to unwanted sexualized contact during a July 6 Raw event in Rosemont, Illinois. The complaint seeks unspecified damages and other relief and asserts 14 counts, including assault, battery and emotional-distress claims. Lucas, who performs off-duty security work, says he was seated at his assigned post near the ring at Allstate Arena when Crawford, who wrestles as Montez Ford, approached during an entrance with tag-team partner Angelo Dawkins. The complaint alleges Crawford danced over Lucas, repeatedly thrusting and gyrating his hips, and rubbed his inner thigh against Lucas’s leg. Lucas says he did not consent to the interaction. Those descriptions are allegations in the lawsuit, not findings by a court. The supplied reports contain no substantive response from Crawford, WWE or Event Services. The complaint also accuses the defendants of violating the Illinois Gender Violence Act and alleges that WWE and Crawford used Lucas’s likeness commercially without authorization, invoking the Illinois Right of Publicity Act. Lucas...