East Chicago taxpayers are on the hook for $375,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a woman a police officer shot three times during a 2021 traffic stop.
The East Chicago City Council is in the beginning stages of paying out the settlement, the NWI Times reported Thursday, Oct. 29. The woman sued the city after the August 2021 shooting.
The case stems from a chaotic encounter on Aug. 11, 2021, at the intersection of Indianapolis Boulevard and Chicago Avenue. An East Chicago police officer flagged a beige Chevrolet Impala after a license plate reader showed the plates were fictitious, CBS News Chicago reported at the time.
"It had fictitious plates," East Chicago Deputy Police Chief Jose Rivera said in 2021. "It came back to an Explorer."
A veteran field training officer and a probationary officer responded as backup in a police SUV. East Chicago police said the Impala's driver accelerated as the veteran officer opened the passenger door of the SUV.
Rivera said the driver rammed the squad car and pinned the training officer's leg between the door and the center panel. The driver then kept accelerating, further pinning the officer, according to Rivera.
The probationary officer, who had graduated from the academy a few months earlier, fired nine shots at the Impala.
The 21-year-old female passenger from East Chicago was struck three times in her hip, backside and waist. Her condition was stabilized. The 20-year-old male driver, from Chicago, was shot in the neck and was in serious condition, according to the 2021 reports.
Both survived.
The veteran officer sustained minor leg injuries and was released from the hospital. A weapon was recovered from the Impala, but it was not clear whether either occupant fired at police, ABC7 Chicago reported. The Lake County Sheriff's Department handled the investigation.
Charles Winston was identified as the driver of the Impala, according to the NWI Times.
The settlement resolves the woman's civil lawsuit against the city more than five years after the shooting.
