Lawsuits

Chicago Teen Run Over by Police Vehicle Sues City

The lawsuit alleges a Chicago police officer failed to put the vehicle into park while attempting to control a crowd during recent protests.

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A young basketball standout from Chicago’s Far South Side is now bed-ridden with multiple leg and pelvic fractures after her family said she was recklessly run over by a Chicago Police Department vehicle.

According to the family’s lawsuit against the city, Astarte Washington, 15, was walking to her home in the Roseland neighborhood with her brother on May 31 when they encountered a large group of protesters and looters that forced them off the sidewalk and into the middle of the street at the intersection of 111th Street and South Michigan Avenue.

Attorney Robert Fakhouri said police officers attempting to control the crowd ordered everyone to get to the ground and Astarte complied. 

“Unfortunately for Astarte, after complying, an officer acted recklessly by failing to place his vehicle in park and kept his vehicle in reverse as he exited that car, despite ordering Astarte to the ground,” Fakhouri said. 

Video of the incident was posted to social media and later released to the media by Fakhouri.

“The justice we are looking for is for actions like this not to occur in our most disenfranchised neighborhoods in the city of Chicago,” Fakhouri said.

The city declined to comment due to pending litigation.

Astarte recently graduated from DuBois Elementary. She was student council president and captain of the basketball team.

“I’m scared because she want to play ball. I’m just scared she not going to do it anymore,” said Astarte’s mother, Tawana Washington. “I’m just scared for my daughter.”

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