A Chicago mother is looking for answers as to why her daughter’s car was struck in a fatal car crash on Tuesday, June 27, 2017. The accident, which occurred at the intersection of Roosevelt and Kostner, involved the woman’s daughter and an off-duty Chicago police officer.
Surveillance video from along the path that the officer’s high powered Jeep is seen speeding along shows him being followed by officers in patrol cars. Their lights can be seen flashing as they pursue him. A police spokesperson has come out and said that officers had begun following the vehicle after it was reported that a SUV matching the description of the officer’s had been involved in a carjacking.
Despite their initial admission, Chicago’s Police Department have declined to speak any further about the incident. Their spokesperson notes that the case has been turned over to the city’s Independent Police Review Authority. Their policy is to not comment on pending investigations.
They do, however, have a transparency policy that requires them to disclose any and all evidence, to include incident reports, audio and video pertaining to open cases. Under that policy, they have up to 60 days to release the discovery related to this crash.
As the decedent’s mom awaits the panel’s findings, she finds herself struggling to find answers to the many different questions she’s come up with about her daughter’s last few minutes alive. If she could speak with Chicago’s Chief of Police, she’d ask why officers decided a carjacking merited a high speed chase. As for the officer, she’d ask him why he made no effort to stop when he realized he was being pursued by police.
While police remain tight lipped, the family of the tactical officer that is alleged to have t-boned the woman has come out and said that this behavior is uncharacteristic of the man they know. They’ve pointed out that his goal in becoming an officer with the Chicago Police Department was to help others. They argue that he would have had no reason to run from police.
T-bone accidents at intersections are unfortunately not all that uncommon, especially in high-traffic cities like Chicago. If you suspect that your injuries or the death of a loved one was caused by a violation of the traffic laws or due to some other type of negligence, then a Chicago car accident attorney may be able to help.
Source: CBS Chicago, “Mother looks for answers from CPD in crash that killed her daughter,” June 28, 2017