Cleveland must pay $4.8 million to family after cops broke the rules and chased down a car thief who fatally hit an innocent 13-year-old girl

Following a tragic accident involving a 13-year-old girl who was struck and killed during a police pursuit, the city of Cleveland, Ohio, has agreed to a $4.8 million settlement with the victim’s family, marking the end of legal battles and investigations since then. . the tragedy happened in December 2019.

A police pursuit was initiated after an armed car theft of a 72-year-old woman outside a local food market. reported via CNN.

Tamia Chappman was walking on the sidewalk with friends when a vehicle fleeing Cleveland officers struck and killed her during a high-speed chase.

Stanley Jackson, an attorney with the Cochran Firm in Cleveland, criticized the city of Cleveland for its negligence after the settlement. “The city of Cleveland failed to follow its own policies, failed to follow its own procedures, failed to exercise common sense during the pursuit or decency while engaged in it,” Jackson said in a statement.

In May 2020, the Chappman family filed a wrongful death lawsuit to treatment an “extremely reckless and unnecessary pursuit that resulted in a tragic death,” citing several police violations of state law.

According to the lawsuit, police acted with a “conscious disregard or indifference to known or obvious risk of harm” that was unreasonable under the circumstances. The lawsuit also alleged they violated Ohio law and the Cleveland Police Department’s “standard operating procedures” by failing to operate their vehicles “with due regard for the safety of all persons and property” on the highway.

police chase began with carjacking on cleveland’s west side, according to WKYC. The chase ended near Euclid and Lakefront avenues in East Cleveland when the vehicle driven by the suspect collided with Tamia while she was on the sidewalk. A police pursuit on Euclid Avenue in East Cleveland reached speeds of greater than 90 miles per hour.

East Cleveland police said that at the time of the incident, Tamia was walking to the library after school along with her siblings and cousins ​​who witnessed the tragic event. In the aftermath, Tamia’s family and her legal representative criticized the Cleveland Police Department for the selections made by its officers on that fateful day.

“I miss my daughter. We’ll never get her back,” Tamia’s mother, Sherrie Chappman, said at a press conference in Cleveland on Monday. public media Ideastream reported. “I don’t want anyone’s children or elderly people (to get hurt) during these chases. I hope they stop.”

The lawyers argued that the defendants violated Ohio law and standard procedures by failing to “cease pursuit when the pursued vehicle was traveling at speeds” well above “safe limits based on road and traffic conditions,” allegedly demonstrating a “gross disregard for the safety of others.” vehicles or pedestrians.”

However, as WHIO-TV reported, there aren’t any standard laws governing police pursuits in Ohio, prompting debates and calls for motion to establish standard laws governing police pursuits. For example, each of the 29 law enforcement agencies in Montgomery County sets its own rules regarding pursuits.

Still, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office provides a set of guidelines for pursuit policies, but they’re only suggestions, not enforceable regulations, WHIO-TV added.

The perpetrators who escaped from the police were quickly arrested and convicted for his or her involvement in each incidents. As Cochran Firm noted, the driver of the stolen vehicle that hit Tamia, then-15-year-old D’Shaun McNear, was sentenced in October 2021 to a prison term of 26 to 31 years, with a minimum sentence of nine years . .

“The $4.8 million settlement is believed to be the largest pursuit-related wrongful death settlement in the state of Ohio,” it claims Cochran Companylegal group representing the Chappman family.

However, according to several media reports, the city rejected claims of any misconduct or policy violations during the pursuit, describing the decision to settle the case with Chappman’s family as “extremely difficult.”

“The city had to consider all relevant factors before making a decision, including the potential for a lawsuit and additional costs,” spokesman Tyler Sinclair said. “We want to make it clear that there aren’t any winners or losers in a case as tragic as this, and while it is straightforward to point fingers a technique or one other, the fact stays that if the armed carjacker had never committed this crime, Tamia would still be here with us.