The Chicago City Council Finance Committee approved a total settlement of over $6 million for two wrongful death lawsuits in which Chicago police allegedly used excessive force on men in their custody.<\/p>\n
The family of 38-year-old Philip Coleman was awarded $4.95 million. Coleman died in police custody in December 2012. His parents warned officers their son was suffering from mental illness. They asked the police to hospitalize Coleman instead of jailing him after he assaulted them during \u201can acute mental breakdown.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the lawsuit, the commanding officer\u2019s response was \u201che doesn\u2019t do hospitals, he does jails.\u201d Police officers tased Coleman thrice in a jail cell and 13 additional times later in a hospital emergency room. He died after hospital staff injected him with a commonly used anti-psychotic medication that caused a rare allergic reaction.<\/p>\n
The committee approved a settlement of $1.5 million for Justin Cook\u2019s family in the second wrongful death case. Cook, (more…)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Chicago City Council Finance Committee approved a total settlement of over $6 million for two wrongful death lawsuits in which Chicago police allegedly used excessive force on men in their custody. The family of 38-year-old Philip Coleman was awarded…<\/span><\/p>\n