CHICAGO (WLS) — For Italian international student Francesco Presta, it started as a normal Friday workout at the University of Illinois Chicago gym in September of last year. It became anything but.

Two weeks later, Presta was escorted out of his campus apartment in handcuffs, accused by UIC police of theft and booked into custody.

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In police body-worn camera video, you can hear one UIC officer say, “Mr. Presta, just to let you know you are being charged with theft under, it’s a class A misdemeanor, under meaning under $500 in value.”

“The allegation is he was working out and, at some time during his workout, he stole someone’s little gym bag,” attorney Gregory Kulis told the I-Team. He represents Presta in a new lawsuit against four UIC police officers filed Thursday.

Kulis says video evidence shows Presta did not take the bag in question.

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“The video doesn’t show him stealing anything, doesn’t show him grabbing anything,” Kulis said.

The theft charges were later dropped, but Presta’s student visa for his studies in engineering at UIC was revoked.

“He was in shock. He goes, ‘how could they revoke my visa when I haven’t done anything wrong?'” Kulis said. “Francesco is fearful of going out. He’s afraid that, if someone could accuse him with no evidence of a crime, he’s afraid if he walks down the street and someone accuses him of anything that he’s going to get locked up and thrown out of the country immediately.”

According to Kulis, the decision to revoke a visa cannot be appealed. It cannot be challenged. Francesco would have to reapply for his documents. He says University of Illinois Chicago Police “basically earmarked Francesco and saying…you must be the thief.”

Presta ultimately graduated and is now suing for wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution, with a bright future working in the U.S. and internationally as an engineer in question indefinitely.

“He went back to Italy and now he doesn’t know what the future holds, whether he’s ever going to be able to get a visa again,” Kulis said.

A University of Illinois Chicago spokesperson told the I-Team they do not comment on pending litigation.