CITY HALL — A City Council committee approved $3.2 million in new police settlements Monday stemming from two police killings, including a man shot 14 times in the back as he tried to drive away with an officer pinned under his car.
The Finance Committee approved a $2.2 million settlement in the 2005 shooting of Emmanuel Lopez, 23. According to Assistant Corporation Counsel Jenny Notz, Lopez was involved in a September 2005 hit-and-run accident and ensuing chase that ended near Kedzie Avenue and 37th Place.
Notz said police would have testified that Lopez drove a car that "glanced" off an officer, who was then "pinned underneath the car." When Lopez attempted to leave the car and flee, he was shot 16 times, 14 in the back. Four of five officers on the scene fired shots, including one off-duty officer who later admitted having a couple of beers before becoming embroiled in the pursuit and shooting.
Lopez was found to have an alcohol level at least twice the legal limit for driving.
"If this case went to trial, we could defend this case," Notz said.
But Notz said attorneys for Ana Lopez-Cervin, Lopez's aunt suing on behalf of the family, would have argued that "officers made up" their version of events "to cover up an unjustified shooting" and would have charged "police misconduct" in court.
For that reason, she said, a $2.2 million settlement, down from the original demand for $18 million, made sense as "an appropriate means of limiting the city's potential financial exposure."
Notz said an Independent Police Review Authority investigation was ongoing.
Aldermen Harry Osterman (48th) and Scott Waguespack (32nd) asked about the length of time since the 2005 incident, with Waguespack saying, "I just don't understand how something could take this long."
"This is very long," Notz said. "I'll be honest."
She couldn't explain the IPRA delay, but said the Law Department would not negotiate as long as opposing lawyers persisted in demanding $18 million, then $10 million. When those demands dropped, after 10 years, the department pursued the eventual $2.2 million settlement.
The case gained infamy from the involvement of officer Jason Van Dyke, who admitted copying statements from other officers in his report. Van Dyke went on to be charged with murder for the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald, caught on a video released last November that has led to months of upheaval in the Police Department and the Emanuel administration.
The Finance Committee also agreed to a $1 million settlement in the March 2013 police shooting and killing of Ryan Rogers. He was shot outside his East Hazel Crest home in the south suburbs by plain-clothes officers investigating a cellphone-theft ring. According to Notz, one of the officers would have said he feared for his life as Rogers attempted to flee in a car.
Yet Notz said opposing attorneys would have argued that the "primary issue" was that Rogers was moving away from the officers when shot from behind. For that reason, she said, the $1 million settlement, down from an original demand for $2.5 million, made sense as "a cost-effective means of limiting any financial exposure."
Notz said that case too was still under investigation by IPRA.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said this weekend that he'd agree to a new civilian police-oversight agency to replace IPRA.
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