Politics
Pay Family of Woman Killed by Driver Being Chased by Police $27M, City Lawyers Recommend
(WTTW News)
Taxpayers should pay $27 million to the family of a Chicago woman killed by a driver being chased by Chicago police, city lawyers recommended, the latest massive settlement prompted by a police pursuit that violated department policy and ended with a bystander’s death.
Angela Parks, the mother of five children, suffered a broken neck and severed spinal column on Aug. 9, 2020, after being struck by an SUV fleeing from Chicago police while in the crosswalk at 31st Street and Wells Street in the Armour Square community area, records show. Parks, who never regained use of her arms or legs after the crash, died 18 months after the crash in February 2022, officials said.
The City Council’s Finance Committee is set to consider the proposed settlement on Monday, which calls for taxpayers to pay $20 million and the city’s insurance company to pay $7 million. A final vote of the City Council could come Feb. 19.
Officer Ricardo Teneyuque believed the SUV had been stolen and pursued the vehicle when it failed to stop, according to the lawsuit filed on behalf of Parks’ family. Chicago Police Department policy prohibits officers from initiating a pursuit when the most serious suspected offense was possession of a stolen motor vehicle.
Teneyuque did not activate his unmarked police vehicle’s lights and sirens, nor did he notify dispatchers that he was in pursuit of a vehicle, as required by CPD policy, according to the lawsuit.
It is not clear whether Teneyuque was disciplined in connection with the pursuit that gravely injured Parks and ultimately caused her death. He is now a detective earning $127,620 annually, according to the city’s database.
Department policy requires 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 offenders” and ensures that no officer could be disciplined for terminating a pursuit.
Marked police cars must also take the lead in pursuits, according to the policy.
In all, Chicago taxpayers spent more than $77.5 million since January 2019 to resolve more than two dozen lawsuits filed by Chicagoans injured during police pursuits, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.
In December, a Cook County jury ordered the city of Chicago to pay $79.85 million to the family of a 10-year-old girl who was killed after a 2020 police chase. That verdict is not yet final.
The Finance Committee will also consider paying $250,000 to a Chicago man who was arrested and charged with a murder because of misconduct by officers investigating the 2016 murder of 17-year-old Jeremiah Parker.
Kentrell Creamer spent two years in jail awaiting trial before the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office dropped the charges after DNA evidence proved he did not kill Parker, according to the lawsuit, which accuses police officers of failing to follow proper procedures while interviewing witnesses to the killing.
In a separate case, alderpeople will consider paying $690,000 to Danielle Cervantes, who filed a federal lawsuit against the city after officials withdrew an offer of employment as a Chicago Fire Department paramedic after an examination determined she could not safely perform the essential job functions because of hearing loss.
Cervantes, a licensed paramedic, alleged the city discriminated against her because of her disability, in violation of federal law.
In the final case set to be considered by committee members, taxpayers would pay $3.5 million to Nicholas Pellegrino, who was struck and injured when a large tree branch fell on Hutchinson Street between Marine Drive and Clarendon Avenue in Uptown.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
