The city of Chicago has paid $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by relatives of a man who died from an asthma attack while in police custody.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Justin Cook's estate sued the city and three Chicago police officers in 2014, two months after his death.
The federal complaint alleged the officers deliberately ignored Cook's pleas for his inhaler when he suffered an asthma attack after being handcuffed. The 29-year-old died later at a hospital.
Records show the City Council Finance Committee authorized the payment to Cook's relatives in April 2016.
Chicago's Law Department spokesman Bill McCaffrey says the agency determined "there was a significant chance that the defendants would have been found liable."
Cook's family and attorney did not respond to requests for comment.
