Chicago taxpayers will spend nearly $3 million to compensate the families of two people killed in high-speed police chases and a third person seriously injured when a Chicago Police officer ran a red light.
The largest of the three settlements on Monday’s agenda for the City Council’s Finance Committee goes to the family of Ezell Ricky Island, 54.
On Feb. 5, 2020, Island was a back-seat passenger in a Ford Fusion being chased through Garfield Park by an unmarked police vehicle at speeds as high as 75 mph.
The chase began at 11:50 a.m. after the Fusion fled a traffic stop . It turned into a deadly crash minutes later when the Ford crashed into another vehicle and a pillar supporting CTA tracks in the 3800 block of West Lake Street. Island died, and three other people were injured, officials reported at the time.
A lawsuit filed by Island’s estate includes allegations with an all-too familiar ring for police chases gone bad.
It accused a group of police officers of initiating the chase without permission and failing to report their actions to dispatchers at the city’s 911 emergency center, as required by police general orders.
It was not known whether any of the three people injured in the crash have filed lawsuits against or already settled with the city.
The second-highest settlement on Monday’s agenda — for $1 million — stems from another deadly police chase just three days after the crash that killed Island.
It goes to the family of Mignonne Robinson, and to Kevin Jones.
Robinson, 40, was killed and after a car being chased by Chicago Police officers crashed into a second vehicle, and then the vehicle carrying Robinson and Jones. That fatal accident occurred around 10 p.m. on Feb. 10, 2020 at Jackson Boulevard and Pulaski Road.
The reasons for initiating the police chase were not clear. The lawsuit accuses police officers of failing to notify dispatchers and of pursuing at high speeds when the risk of injury to innocent motorists and pedestrians far outweighed the benefits of apprehending a driver who had blown through a red light.
CPD general orders now require that “balancing test,” taking those factors into account.
The third chase-related settlement will cost beleaguered Chicago taxpayers $400,000.
It goes to Eyraechel Meiang, who was walking near 69th Street and Loomis Boulevard on April 28, 2020 when he was struck by a marked police squad car driven by Officer Charles Galvin.
Galvin blew a red light and crashed into a passenger vehicle. After that collision, Galvin’s squad car hit Meiang, causing serious injuries and “mental anguish,” his lawsuit said.
At the time of that accident, Galvin was not responding to an emergency, had not notified supervisors of a pursuit and did not have the lights and sirens of his squad car activated. The accused officer is no longer on the city payroll.
There have been calls for CPD to put the brakes on high-speed chases for decades.
In 2003, Qing Chang was killed after a sergeant disregarded an order to stop pursuing a robbery suspect and the getaway car struck the 25-year-old software programmer in the West Loop as she walked home. The city was hit with a $17.5 million legal judgment in that case, prompting a large-scale re-examination of the dangers of such chases.
Still, history keeps repeating.
In 2021, Lakisel Thomas, a 43-year-old mother of three, was mowed down while crossing the street to pick up lunch for her son in February 2021. She was struck by a car trying to get away from police after a stop over an improper registration tag. The city settled that case last month for $4.5 million.
The largest police chase settlement in Chicago history — $45 million — was authorized last year on behalf of Nathen Jones, who suffered a “massive traumatic brain injury” that left him on a feeding tube, unable to walk or speak.