City attorneys are recommending aldermen approve a $22 million settlement for the family of a 25-year-old man killed in a car crash that occurred as police chased somebody else.
lawyers representing the estate of Angel Eduardo Alvarez Montesinos say police recklessly broke department rules as they pursued a fleeing car that fatally struck him in North Lawndale.
Aldermen will weigh the costly settlement Wednesday, among the first they will consider this year after approving a record sum in such deals last year that, paired with court verdicts, approached $500 million.
Aldermen will also consider a $875,000 deal to settle a lawsuit filed by Black Lives Matter protesters who allege police violated their constitutional rights during May 2020 demonstrations.
If aldermen approve the Montesinos settlement, $2 million will be covered by the city’s insurance, while taxpayers will pick up the rest.
The lawsuit names three officers involved in the chase: Erik Arroyo, Carolyn La Placa and Michael Spilotro III. The officers failed to stop chasing the car as it sped through intersections and failed to follow the department’s strict char chase rules, according to court records.
The officers were chasing a Hyundai sedan driven by Martin Shuntrel, a minor at the time, according to the lawsuit.
Shuntrel — who had stolen the car and did not have a license — reached speeds near 90 miles per hour before the car crashed into Montesinos at the intersection of South Independence Boulevard and Roosevelt Road. Montesinos’s estate also sued both Shuntrel and his parents.
Court records tied to the Black Lives Matter protesters’ lawsuit shows that they accused police of “brutal, violent and unconstitutional tactics” that were “clearly designed to injure and silence protesters.”
The lawsuit also accuses former police Superintendent David Brown, also a defendant, of lying about how he and his department handled protests. It includes photos of dozens of injuries suffered by protesters allegedly at the hands of police.