Politics

Pay Man Who Lost Both Legs After Being Struck by Driver Being Chased by Police $32M, City Lawyers Recommend

Taxpayers should pay $32 million to the family of a St. Louis man who was struck by a driver being chased by Chicago police and lost both legs, city lawyers recommended, the latest massive settlement prompted by a police pursuit that violated department policy.

The City Council’s Finance Committee on Friday is set to consider the proposed settlement, which calls for taxpayers to pay $20 million and the city’s insurance company to pay $12 million. A final vote of the City Council could come April 16.

In Chicago for a conference, Bryce Summary was walking with his wife, Amy, and their two sons along Michigan Avenue near Ohio Street just before 9 p.m. on May 12, 2022. At the same time, Chicago Police officers attempted to stop a white Mercedes because the car had a tinted license plate cover, according to the lawsuit filed by Summary.

Instead of stopping, the driver of the Mercedes, Joseph A. Garcia, fled, running a red light and turning east on to Ohio Street, at a high rate of speed, according to the lawsuit. Chicago police officers chased the Mercedes, “without initially activating the patrol lights and sirens,” according to the lawsuit.

The pursuit continued even after Garcia hit a Chevrolet Equinox, according to the lawsuit.

Summary saw the Mercedes barreling toward him and his family and was able to push his wife out of the path of the vehicle before he was struck and pinned underneath it, according to the lawsuit.

Garcia fled on foot and was not initially apprehended by police.

Even though nearby healthcare workers rushed to Summary’s aid, and an ambulance took him to nearby Northwestern University Hospital, both of his legs had to be amputated below the knee. Summary also suffered nine broken ribs and a fractured vertebra, according to the lawsuit.

An online fundraiser for the Summary family said Bryce Summary underwent more than a dozen surgeries.

Chicago Police Department policy prohibits officers from initiating a pursuit when the most serious suspected offense is an equipment violation, like an improperly displayed license plate.

It is not clear whether any officers were disciplined in connection with the pursuit that seriously injured Summary.

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.

That policy has been harshly criticized as too restrictive by conservative members of the City Council who blame it for an increase in robberies and other crimes. Robberies increased citywide 11.8% between 2022 and 2024, but fell 20% between 2023 and 2024, according to CPD data.

However, the City Council and police brass do not have the ability to change CPD’s vehicle pursuit policy without the approval of the federal judge overseeing the court order requiring CPD to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers. That federal court order, known as the consent decree, covers vehicle pursuits.

Mayor Brandon Johnson and Police Superintendent Larry Snelling have said newly acquired helicopters will make it possible for officers to track and arrest those who flee from officers.

Chicago taxpayers have spent $101.8 million since 2019 to resolve lawsuits brought by 26 people who were injured or on behalf of those killed 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.

If approved by the City Council, it would be the third time taxpayers have paid $20 million or more to resolve lawsuits sparked by police pursuits that resulted in a grave injury or death.

A 15-year-old boy who was gravely injured in 2021 when a Chicago police officer launched an unauthorized pursuit. Nathen Jones needs around-the-clock care and is unable to walk, speak or feed himself as a result of the crash. In addition to the $20 million from taxpayers, the city’s insurance company paid Jones $25 million in one of the largest settlements in Chicago’s history.

In February, taxpayers paid $27 million to Angela Parks, the mother of five children, who suffered a broken neck and severed spinal column on Aug. 9, 2020, after being struck by an SUV fleeing Chicago police. The city’s insurance company covered $7 million of the settlement.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]

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