Chicago, IL, 1 July, 2016 – The family of one of two robbery suspects killed when police collided with their fleeing car in July has filed a lawsuit against a Chicago police officer they say recklessly caused the man’s death.
Two police officers and two others in the suspects’ car also were injured in the July 1 crash.
Arrington’s mother, Juanita Arrington, filed the lawsuit in Cook County on Wednesday against the city of Chicago and Officer Dean W. Ewing, alleging “willful and wanton negligence.”
Ewing was driving an unmarked SUV that collided with the suspects’ gold Grand Prix near 124th Street and Union Avenue while responding to the chase.
“Officer Ewing accelerated his vehicle to the point where he traveled 30 to 50 mph above the speed limit,’’ the suit states. Ewing’s SUV “rammed” the Grand Prix and caused it to “overturn in a burst of dust and smoke.”
Ewing “engaged in willful and wanton negligence by speeding in a residential neighborhood, pursuing the car over an extended distance and time, creating an increased risk of danger to the public and passengers in the gold Grand Prix,” the suit contends.
Ewing “failed to abandon’’ the chase when circumstances warranted termination, according to the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified dollar amount in damages.