CITY HALL — A City Council committee signed off on $3.65 million in three new police settlements Monday.
According to Leslie Darling, first assistant corporation counsel in the city Law Department, two cases worth $3 million involved fatal police shootings. Another concerned a cyclist doored by a police officer.
If the full City Council agrees Wednesday, the city will pay $2 million to the family of Calvin Cross Sr., who was 19 when shot and killed by police on the far South Side at 124th and Wallace streets in May 2011.
According to Darling, police officers responded to a report of shots fired in the area and followed Cross as a suspect. He "did not obey the officers" when they called on him to halt, Darling added, and the officers thought they saw a gun being fired.
Officers fired 45 shots in the foot chase that followed, killing Cross. But Cross was not found to have a gun, and the only one recovered in the area was at the site of the original report of shots fired. Darling said Cross had no police record and a son who is now 5 years old, making the settlement advisable to avoid a jury trial.
The committee approved a $1 million settlement in the November 2010 shooting of Joshua Madison Sr. According to Darling, police officer Robert Campbell was responding to reports of drug deals going down in a fast-food parking lot on the 5800 block of South Western Avenue when he blocked a car driven by Madison from leaving the lot. She said Madison tried to back up and flee, and that Campbell reported he leaned in through the passenger window and attempted to grab the car keys when Madison tried to drive off. Darling said Campbell fired 13 shots, with 11 hitting Madison, who died within an hour.
Yet Darling testified that "no drugs were recovered from the car," and that the defense would argue that the passenger window was half up and incapable of holding the officer's weight if he indeed had been trying to dive in to get the keys. She said that Shaunda Rogers, who was in the passenger seat at the time and later joined in filing the suit, would testify on other inconsistencies in Campbell's report.
Darling testified that the city's potential defense was undercut by Campbell's death last year shortly after depositions began in the case, yet she did not emphasize to alderman that Campbell's death was ruled a suicide by hanging.
Darling said the defense would argue that Campbell was responsible for placing himself in danger and that "a jury could find the officer liable." She said the suit had originally sought $6 million, so the $1 million figure was a "reasonable" settlement.
The committee also approved a $650,000 settlement for Jose Salgado, a 39-year-old cyclist doored on his way to work by police officer Hiram Gutierrez. According to Ald. Edward Burke (14th), chairman of the Finance Committee, "extensive medical expenses" were involved.
The committee also signed off on a $1.1 billion loan to pay off $918 million in other loans placed in jeopardy by the city's recently downgraded credit rating. It will also cover other settlements including $62 million in the case of Mayor Richard M. Daley's administration approving a parking garage for the Aqua hotel that undermined a no-competition clause with privatized city parking garages.
All measures go before the full City Council on Wednesday for final approval.
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