Chicago City Council to weigh $27 million settlement for family of woman killed by SUV during police chase
CHICAGO (CBS) -- City attorneys have recommended a $27 million settlement for the family of a woman who was killed by a driver during a high-speed Chicago police chase.
The City Council Finance Committee on Monday will consider the proposed settlement with the family of Angela Parks. The city's insurance provider would pay $7 million of the settlement, and city taxpayers would pay the remaining $20 million under the proposed settlement.
Parks, a mother of five, suffered a broken neck and a severed spinal column when she was hit by an SUV fleeing from police while she was in the crosswalk at 31st and Wells streets on Aug. 9, 2020, according to the lawsuit filed by her family. She was left a quadriplegic, and died 18 months later in February 2022 at the age of 45.
Her family's lawsuit accuses Officer Ricardo Teneyuque of chasing the SUV because he believed it had been stolen, despite a Chicago Police Department policy prohibiting officers from pursuing vehicles when a stolen car is the most serious suspected crime involved.
CPD's general rules require officers to "consider the need for immediate apprehension of an eluding suspect and the requirement to protect the public from the danger created by eluding offender" before conducting a vehicle chase.
The lawsuit also accuses Teneyuque of violating multiple CPD policies by failing to activate his unmarked squad car's sirens, failing to notify dispatchers or supervisors about the chase, and failing to end the high-speed chase after the driver he was pursuing recklessly drove into oncoming traffic. CPD policy also prohibits unmarked squad cars like Teneyuque's from leading police chases.
It's not the first time a police chase gone wrong has cost Chicago taxpayers millions of dollars to settle a lawsuit.
In February 2022, the City Council approved a $1.4 million settlement with the mother of 13-month-old Dillan Harris, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver during a high-speed chase in July 2015.
Police were chasing the driver after seeing him flee the scene of a shooting, but city attorneys said an investigation determined the officers violated several CPD policies, including a ban on chases involving more than two squad cars. A total of four police vehicles were involved in the pursuit, including a police van, despite a rule prohibiting police vans from taking part in any pursuits.
In addition, an unmarked squad car was leading the chase, despite a rule that only marked squad cars take the lead in pursuits.
In September 2022, the City Council agreed to pay $15 million to the family of 37-year-old Guadalupe Franco-Martinez, who was killed when a CPD squad car hit her SUV during a high-speed chase of a suspect wanted for multiple violent crimes in the suburbs in June 2020.
The squad car was going 101 mph just four seconds before the crash, even though police supervisors had long before told officers to halt the chase.
In March 2024, the City Council approved a $45 million settlement with the family of 15-year-old Nathen Jones, who suffered a traumatic brain injury and was left severely disabled after police tried to pull over the driver of the car in which he was riding in April 2021, before the Volkswagen crashed into another car.
Nathen's family accused the officer involved in the chase of failing to call a supervisor to ask permission to pursue the Volkswagen for rolling through a stop sign.
