Politics
Pay Family of Couple Killed by Driver Being Chased by Police $7.5M, City Lawyers Recommend
Yvonne Lee-Wilson, 66, and her husband, Adelbert Wilson, 69, were killed by a driver fleeing police in March 2022. (Provided)
Taxpayers should pay $7.5 million to the family of a Chicago pastor and her husband, who were struck and 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.
Yvonne Lee-Wilson, 66, and her husband, Adelbert Wilson, 69, were killed Feb. 28, 2022, while on their way home from church. They died less than two miles away, after a rented car driven by a man fleeing Chicago police officers collided with their car at 111th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue.
Chicago police began chasing a 2021 Nissan Rogue driven by Rayvell Loften that began near State and 111th streets in violation of department policy, according to the lawsuit filed by the couple’s daughter.
Traveling at a high rate of speed, Loften ignored multiple red traffic lights and crashed into the car driven by Wilson near Pullman Park. Both he and his wife of 38 years died as a result of their injuries.
Loften fled after the crash. He was eventually arrested, but is now dead, records show.
Lee-Wilson served as the senior pastor at Body of Christ Deliverance Ministries, 741 W. 115th St., for 25 years.
It is not clear whether any officers were disciplined in connection with the pursuit that killed Lee-Wilson and Wilson.
In other action, city lawyers recommended paying $615,000 to the family of a 33-year-old man killed by an unmarked Chicago police vehicle speeding to a call for help.
Mario Winters was on motorbike near Halsted and 118th streets on July 8, 2020, when he was struck and killed, according to the lawsuit filed by his family.
The Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee will consider proposals to resolve both cases at its meeting set for Wednesday, with a final vote of the full City Council possible on Thursday.
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, implemented in 2020, has been harshly criticized as too restrictive by conservative members of the City Council who blame it for emboldening those who commit crimes to flee without fear of being apprehended.
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 they rely on CPD helicopters to track and arrest those who flee from officers.
In all, nine cases alleging Chicagoans were hit or killed during a police chase that violated department policy cost taxpayers more than $75 million to resolve between Jan. 1 and July 31, according to WTTW News’ analysis.
Chicago taxpayers have spent $187.5 million since 2019 to resolve 87 lawsuits involving people who were injured or on behalf of those killed during police pursuits, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
