CHICAGO – COPA, the agency charged with investigating shootings and serious crashes involving Chicago police officers, has released video and other data from a car crash that killed one man and injured two others when police followed a suspicious vehicle in McKinley Park last month.
Early on Oct. 1, CPD patrol officers focusing on a robbery pattern in the 5500 block of South Pulaski saw two people they believed were armed get into a black Lexus sedan, police said.
COPA said the vehicle fled as officers attempted to investigate, and police followed the Lexus. At 35th Street and Ashland, the speeding Lexus ran a red light and struck a vehicle making a turn at the intersection.
The impact caused the Lexus to plow into a nearby building, which partially collapsed. A male passenger was ejected from the Lexus and died at the scene. Officials said the two drivers suffered relatively minor injuries.
Both COPA and CPD said police recovered two firearms from the scene of the accident.
A CPD surveillance camera recorded the collision:
Among the other videos released by COPA is dashcam footage of the vehicle that struck the Lexus:
Dashcam video from the nearest CPD unit shows officers were about half a block behind the Lexus when it crashed. It is unclear whether the officers activated their emergency lights and siren or whether they attempted to “follow” the Lexus without pursuing it. This is what it looked like:
COPA continues to investigate the officers’ actions to determine whether they complied with CPD policy. The agency invites anyone with information or video about the case to contact them at 312-746-3609.
Additional videos and documents are available on the COPA website.
Original reporting you won’t see anywhere else, paid for by our readers. Click here to support our work.
CWBChicago was founded in 2013 by five residents of Wrigleyville and Boystown who had become discouraged by the inaccurate information presented during local Community Policing (CAPS) meetings. Our coverage area has since expanded to Lincoln Park, River North, The Loop, Uptown and other North Side areas. But our mission remains unchanged: to provide original public safety reporting with better context and more detail than mainstream media. Our editorial email address is news@cwbchicago.com
