March 1, 2017
Motorcycle accident with Chicago Officer leads to $250,000 payout
In 2011, First Deputy Police Superintendent Kevin Navarro of Chicago, Illinois received a call about possible drag racing taking place near his location.
He, while driving is police-issued Chevy Tahoe, headed towards the incident in order to confront a group of motorcyclists gathered on the other side of the road. As he crossed onto the other side of the road his car was struck by a drag racing motorcycle rider which launched the cyclists an estimated 30 feet into the air.
Navarro, who was struck by his airbags that deployed during the collision, suffered a concussion but no other serious injuries.
Carlos Russian, the man operating the motorcycle, suffered unspecified injuries but survived the crash. He since has filed personal injury lawsuit against against Navarro claiming his actions of crossing the media with not flashing lights was negligent.
Russian also claims Navarro purposely positioned his Tahoe in the middle of the road in an attempt to stop his motorcycle from passing. He, and his attorney, Leonard Becker, also claim that at no point was Russian racing; they maintain that Russian was simply riding his motorcycle to meet with the other riders gather on the side of the road.
The City of Chicago settled the lawsuit and awarded Carlos Russian $250,000 in damages caused by the motorcycle accident.
Unfortunately, the City and the Police Department’s troubles did not end there.
They are also expected to settle 3 other cases that range from a little over $200k all the way up to $1 million dollars. Two of the other cases also involve car accident lawsuits.
The third case, which involves a $1 million lawsuit, is expected to award $370,000 to a former city employee who claims he was arrested on false charges of soliciting a prostitute.