Illinois Village to Pay $485,000 in Police Car Accident Settlement

Chicago, IL (Law Firm Newswire) December 24, 2014 – The village of Downers Grove, Illinois has agreed to pay $485,000 to settle a lawsuit by a man who was injured in a car accident with a police vehicle. The payment, which is the second such settlement in the case, has been approved by village council members.

“People who are injured in a car accident through the fault of another always deserve to be compensated,” said Paul Greenberg, a Chicago car accident attorney with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. Greenberg is not involved in the case.

William Keim was one of two people injured when a police squad car collided with another vehicle. On August 12, 2011, Keim was a passenger in a vehicle driven by David Rosa. The car was struck by a police car driven by Downers Grove Police Officer Craign Widlacki. The two men filed a personal injury lawsuit in 2012 in DuPage County Circuit Court, alleging that Widlacki failed to stop at a stop sign and turned into oncoming traffic, causing the accident. The men alleged that they both sustained injuries that required medical treatment and caused them to lose time from work. In August 2013, the village approved a $132,000 settlement with Rosa, whose medical treatment was completed earlier than Keim’s.

Widlacki was reprimanded after the accident, according to to a previous statement by Village Attorney Enza Petrarca. According to Doug Kozlowski, a spokesman for the village, Widlacki is still employed by the Downers Grove Police Department.

The vote by village officials to approve the settlement was unanimous. The funds will be taken from a risk management fund maintained by the village.