Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Family of Dolton Teen Killed by Fleeing Car Questions Story by Police

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the family of Kenyatta Brack, the 16-year old Dolton boy who was killed by a car fleeing the police, has questioned the version of events put forward by the Cook County Sheriff's Police. Through a spokesman, the official version of the story is that the Sheriff's Police followed the speeding vehicle but remained two blocks behind and did not speed. Kenyatta's father observed the following:
"How can you really follow somebody from two blocks away? That doesn't make sense. You have to be speeding to chase somebody going 70 miles an hour. It was a high-speed chase. Why not say it? We understand what it is. High-speed chase, you're not supposed to do it."
As I mentioned in yesterday's post on this case, cases that involve high-speed chases are often much more complicated than they appear. While the driver of the Hyundai that struck Kenyatta is clearly at fault, under Illinois law there could be liability against the Sheriff's Police if the facts show that they did not follow proper police procedures during the pursuit of the Hyundai.

If you have any questions regarding this post please contact Illinois accident attorney Mike Keating at 312-208-7702 or MKeating@KeatingLegal.com.