Family of man shot and killed by Kane County Sheriff's deputies files wrongful death lawsuit
The family of a carjacking suspect who was shot and killed by Illinois sheriff's deputies during a police chase in 2023 has filed a federal lawsuit against the sheriff's office.
James Moriarty, 38, carjacked a woman in Aurora on May 24, 2023, and then led police on a chase for more than 10 minutes through several suburbs, before crashing at the intersection of Fabyan Road and Randall Parkway along the Geneva-Batavia border, after police used a PIT maneuver to stop the stolen car, Kane County Sheriff's officials have said.
He got out of the car holding what sheriff's police believed to be a handgun, and officers released a police dog, and ordered him to drop the weapon, but he ignored them, and started walking around his car towards civilians stopped in their cars.
One deputy fired three shots at Moriarty, while another released a police dog, who knocked the weapon out of Moriarty's hand, according to a report from the Kane County State's Attorney's office. The weapon turned out to be an airsoft gun.
While Moriarty was struggling with the police dog, two officers fired several more shots, including nine shots while Moriarty was on the ground. Deputies also accidentally shot and killed the police dog while firing at Moriarty.
Kane County State's Attorney Jamie Mosser announced earlier this month that none of the officers involved in the shooting would face any charges, after finding the shooting was justified.
"Multiple deputies gave commands to Mr. Moriarty that included 'show us your hands,' 'put your hands up,' 'get on the ground,' and 'drop the weapon,'" Mosser said. "Moriarty refused to comply with every single one of these. As Moriarty went to the back of the Honda Accord, a gun can be seen in his right hand, pointing down on the video."
However, Moriarty's family on Friday filed a federal lawsuit, claiming that Moriarty already had been disarmed by the police dog, and had been subdued before one of the officers shot him 13 times without justification.
The lawsuit also claims the day before the shooting, Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain interfered with an attempt by Aurora police to arrest Moriarty peacefully on a prior felony warrant, "which, if effectuated, would have resulted in Moriarty's arrest without being shot or bit by a police dog."
Mosser's report on the investigation into the shooting shows Aurora police had set up surveillance outside Moriarty's apartment, planning to arrest him when he walked out to his car. According to the report, police believed Moriarty was armed and dangerous, and might be "suicidal by cop."
Although Aurora police had set up a perimeter using unmarked cars, Hain's office sent three marked squad cars into the perimeter, and towed away Moriarty's car, compromising the stakeout.
"Defendant Hain's decision was the moving force and direct cause of Moriarty's injuries," the lawsuit claims. "Defendant Hain owed a duty to Moriarty to have him arrested using no greater force than necessary. Defendant Hain breached that duty by interfering with APD's arrest plan."
In a statement, Hain said he was unaware of the lawsuit, but said, "we're not intimidated by any attempts to capitalize on someone's death after they went on a crime spree, threatened innocent civilians, and brandished a gun at sheriff's deputies and refused commands to comply."
