Chicago Family Sues CPD After Vehicle Rolls Over Young Girl; 'Where Was The Help?'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- She was just following police orders when a CPD squad car rolled over her twice during a day of unrest in Chicago last month.
The victim is just 15 years old. And her family tells CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey that her future dreams have been put on hold.
The incident was caught on camera. There is witness cell phone video of the squad car rolling over 15-year-old Astarte Washington's body.
Astarte Washington's grandmother Bonita Washington watched the video for the first time Monday.
"To sit and see it is just too much. And I keep thinking 'where was the help,'" asked Washington.
The girl's mother, Tawana Washington, said it makes her physically sick.
"Every time I see it, it breaks me down because I don't believe that this is my baby actually getting run over," Washington said. "She's so small."
The video from May 31 opens with 15-year-old Astarte laying on her back on the ground with her arms out, wearing a red t-shirt. An officer jumps out of the squad car behind her, but apparently forgets to put the SUV in park. And it rolls over her body.
A witness screams out as officers run toward the Ford Explorer.
Tawana's son called her right away.
"I was praying I misheard him," she said.
Astarte was walking home from her grandmother's house. Bus service had been disrupted due to the the George Floyd protests. Police were trying to control the crowds 111th Street and South Michigan Avenue when they ordered her to the ground.
And she complied.
The family's lawyer said CPD needs to answer to what he described as reckless conduct.
"What truly are we looking to change? We need to change their behavior," said attorney Robert Fakhouri.
The eighth grade student council president has been sidelined from her life and her promising basketball career, which includes dreams of one day ending up in the WNBA.
Now her family said she's largely bedridden due to multiple fractures to pelvic bones and legs.
"She going through a lot right now, but god is the one who saved her," said her mother Tawana Washington. "I believe that she's going to make her and she's going to be okay."
The family filed a lawsuit on Friday against the city of Chicago. As a practice CPD does not comment on pending litigation.
