City to Blame for Model's Drowning Death: Suit

The father of a North Side woman found drowned inside a car in the North Branch of the Chicago River filed a wrongful death suit against the city Thursday.

In his suit, Fehim Sabanovic claims the city of Chicago negligently allowed barricades or traffic control devices near the accident site to fall into disrepair and failed to inspect the area.  The city also failed to warn his daughter of the dangerous condition of the land, roadways, barricades, curbs and sidewalks, it alleges.

Irma Sabanovic, 25, left the Rogers Park home she shared with her father on May 12 with the intention of going to a nightclub at West North and North Elston avenues.  

She got lost on the way, detectives said, and sent a text message to a friend indicating she was near North Milwaukee Avenue and West Erie Street. That was the last communication from Sabanovic, the alert said.

Her car, with her body inside, was pulled from the river last Saturday.

The two-count wrongful death suit seeks unspecified damages and court costs.

A spokesperson for the city’s legal department was not immediately available for comment.