Chicago City Council OKs nearly $25M in police misconduct settlements
CHICAGO - The Chicago City Council voted on Wednesday to approve nearly $25 million in settlements for police misconduct cases.
The city’s Law Department recommended approval of the payouts in four different cases. The Finance Committee voted to recommend each settlement amount earlier this week.
These settlements were just the latest for which Chicago taxpayers are on the hook, adding to the approximately $140 million in settlements that the City Council has already approved, well above the $82 million budgeted for this year.
Each of the following settlements was approved:
Rafael Alcantara v. City of Chicago - $400,000
The backstory:
The city's lawyers agreed to pay $400,000 to Rafael Alcantara, who in July 2022 was injured when the car he was driving hit a Chicago police squad car on the city's Northwest Side.
The officers in the squad car were responding to a call when they entered the intersection of Western Avenue and Fullerton Avenue on a red light. A city attorney said the squad car's sirens were activated only seconds before entering the intersection, but its emergency lights were not turned on.
The resulting crash left Alcantara with a fractured hip and leg, in need of five months of physical therapy, and about $158,000 worth of medical bills.
The department's Traffic Review Board determined the accident was preventable and the officer driving the squad car was suspended for one day and had to attend driving school due to the crash.
William Carter v. Ronald Watts, et al - $2.1M
The backstory:
William Carter sued the city in connection with convictions stemming from multiple arrests by disgraced ex-Sgt. Ronald Watts, which he claimed were based on "fabricated evidence.'
Carter said he was arrested twice in 2004 and again in 2006 by officers who were part of Watts' unit on narcotics-related offenses. While Cater disputed each time the reason he was arrested, he pleaded guilty to the two early arrests.
All the while, Watts and his unit were being investigated for and eventually charged with corruption, including for the collection of taxes from drug dealers in exchange for allowing them to continue their business without arrest. Watts would eventually plead guilty to extortion and was sentenced to nearly two years in prison.
Meanwhile, Carter's convictions were vacated in 2017 after spending more than four years behind bars for the arrests by Watts' unit.
Bernard Williams v. Kriston Kato - $7.5M
The backstory:
Bernard Williams was convicted of the 1996 murder of Gary Thomas on the city's West Side.
The conviction was vacated in 2019 after two eyewitnesses recanted their statements to police implicating Williams in the fatal shooting.
During the original 1998 trial, only one witness testified that Williams shot the victim. The witness later said he made the statement because police showed him a photo of Williams and was told to "go along with it," according to city attorneys.
The detective investigating the case also had a "history of allegations" against him, they added.
There was no physical evidence tying Williams to the crime. Williams was acquitted in a 2023 retrial of the case.
James Gibson v. City of Chicago - $14.75M
The backstory:
James Gibson's conviction for the 1989 murders of two men on the city's South Side was dismissed in 2019 after he spent about 29 years in custody.
Gibson said he and another suspect were held against their will at a police station where they were interrogated and tortured. His sister reported that Gibson was punched, kicked, slapped and threatened by officers. His chest and buttocks appeared to be swollen, and a hospital report showed he had bruising on his left ribs. He also told hospital staff that he was hit by police officers.
Gibson was originally sentenced to life in prison, but after he was granted a new trial in 2019, the charges were dropped, and he was given a certificate of innocence in 2020.