Politics
City Lawyers Recommend Paying $8.3M to Family of Woman Struck, Killed by Driver Being Chased by Police
(WTTW News)
Taxpayers should pay $8.25 million to the family of a woman who was struck and killed by a driver being chased by Chicago police, city lawyers recommended, the latest multimillion-dollar settlement prompted by a police pursuit that violated department policy.
The City Council’s Finance Committee is set to consider the proposed settlement on Wednesday. A final vote of the City Council could come Feb. 18.
Dominga Flores Gomez, 55, died in the crash that ended the chase launched by two Chicago Police Department vehicles just before 9 p.m. Sept. 28, 2022, in McKinley Park, records show.
Police were pursuing a Honda HR-V that had been reported stolen when the crash occurred, according to the lawsuit filed by Flores Gomez’s family, which includes her five children and eight grandchildren, according to an online obituary.
The pursuit lasted for 11 miles and reached speeds between 90 to 100 mph on Cicero Avenue, where the speed limit is 30 mph, according to the family’s lawsuit.
The Honda blew through a red light at Kedzie Avenue and 31st Street and struck Flores Gomez’s Toyota Corolla, killing her, according to the lawsuit.
More than three years after Flores Gomez was killed, the pursuit is still under investigation by CPD’s Bureau of Internal Affairs, according to a CPD spokesperson.
A federal court order requires internal affairs complaints to be resolved in six months.
CPD changed its vehicle pursuit policy in 2020 and then again in 2022 to require 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.”
Chicago Police Department policy prohibits officers from initiating a pursuit when the most serious suspected offense is possession of a stolen motor vehicle.
Since January 2025, Chicago taxpayers spent at least $103.1 million to resolve 14 lawsuits brought by people who were injured or on behalf of those killed during police pursuits, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.
WTTW News coverage of policing and police reform is supported by The Joyce Foundation.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
