Family of woman struck and pinned by CPD squad car in 2019 in line for $3.25 million settlement
CHICAGO (CBS) -- City attorneys have recommended a $3.25 million settlement with the family of a woman who died more than two years after was pinned under a Chicago police squad car in 2019, after body camera video showed officers did little to help her as she laid bleeding in the street.
The City Council Finance Committee is scheduled to vote on the proposed settlement on Wednesday, in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Standley's mother, Forestine Williams. The lawsuit said Standley suffered a traumatic brain injury and other severe injuries that caused her death in January 2022.
Martina Standley was 32 years old when she was hit by the squad car on the night of Nov. 13, 2019. According to her mother's lawsuit, she was suffering a mental health crisis near 71st and Jeffery, when Chicago police officer Brian Greene pulled up in a marked SUV.
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Ten seconds after Standley approached Greene's SUV, he "released the brake and accelerated into Ms. Standley," according to the lawsuit.
Community activist William Calloway won a court order in 2021 to release body camera video footage from the accident.
The video shows Greene's cruiser knocking Standley to the pavement. Greene and his partner then get out of the car and the video shows Standley lying on the street. Greene told her, "Girl, ain't nobody hit you like that," before apparently noticing she was bleeding and pinned under the squad car.
When Greene noticed blood pooling on the pavement under Standley's head, and her right leg pinned under the front right wheel of the police SUV, he said, "Oh, s***. F***."
Greene later was heard telling other officers at the scene that Standley had been banging on the squad car.
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In body camera footage from Greene and his partner, Standley appeared at times to be unconscious while the officers were waiting for paramedics to arrive. Although officers could occasionally be seen shaking her to see if she's awake and telling her to "stay up," the officers could not be seen trying to provide any first aid.
Other officers could be heard urging Green to slowly back the car off Standley, but he never got back in the vehicle before paramedics arrived to free Standley.
About eight minutes after the officer hit Standley, paramedics arrived with a stretcher, "We can't roll that off. We need a squad," likely referring to a Chicago Fire Department special operations crew that carries tools and equipment for heavy rescue incidents.
The video from both officers' body cameras cut off before Standley was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center for treatment. At the time, she was in critical condition.
Her mother's lawsuit said Standley suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, which required weeks of treatment in the hospital and a rehabilitation center before she was able to go home, after which she continued to suffer from pain, cognitive deficits, physical limitations, memory loss, and more until her death on Jan. 30, 2022.
If the Finance Committee approves the settlement with Standley's family, the full City Council could vote on the proposal at its next meeting on Feb. 16.
