Nov. 24--A lawsuit filed Monday alleges that a Chicago police officer was speeding and failed to use police lights or a siren while en route to a call on the South Side in 2011 when he was involved in a fatal crash.
The victim, Shawn Garrett, 25, was driving east on 69th Street near Indiana Avenue on Jan. 10, 2011, when the police officer, headed south toward the intersection, failed to stop at a red light and struck Garrett's car, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in Cook County Circuit Court.
The officer "was driving the marked police car at an excess of the posted speed limit, and did not have his pursuit lights or sirens active," the lawsuit said. The police officer "carelessly and negligently" failed to keep a proper lookout for other vehicles, change the direction of his SUV or slow down," the lawsuit said.
Garrett, the father of nine at the time of the accident, died the same day.
Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the department doesn't comment on pending litigation.
The allegations in the lawsuit contradict the version of events police gave the day of the crash.
According to a report in the Tribune, police said two officers were traveling south on Indiana Avenue in an SUV with its emergency signals activated According to police, Garrett's car ran a red light while eastbound on East 69th Street and collided with the police car before crashing into a pole.
Two passengers in Garrett's car were taken to different hospitals in critical condition, police said.
Garrett's mother, Louise Bohannon, who filed the wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Chicago, Chicago police and the police officer, is seeking at least $50,000 from each party.
Bohannon's attorney couldn't be reached for comment Monday evening.
tbriscoe@tribpub.com
