$1M settlement to family of man denied medical attention while in police lock-up

Chicago taxpayers will spend $1 million to compensate the family of a man who died in 2015 at the lock-up of a South Side station despite his repeated requests for medical attention.

A wrongful death lawsuit filed four years ago in Cook County Circuit Court alleged that Charles Edward Jones died because Chicago Police officers denied Jones the medical treatment he desperately needed.

Jones, 56, died at 7:10 a.m. on Aug. 23, 2015 at the Grand Crossing District police station at 7040 S. Cottage Grove Ave., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

He had turned himself in for an outstanding warrant at 3:30 p.m. Aug. 22, the suit said. While in custody, Jones told officers he had a medical condition and felt pain in his feet, legs and abdomen, according to the suit. Jones, of the 6900 block of South Woodlawn, was placed in a holding cell where he repeatedly requested medical attention, which he was denied, according to the suit.

On the morning of Aug. 23, officers found Jones dead in his cell, the suit alleged. The suit also alleged the conduct of the city and the officers, who also were named as defendants, was willful and wanton.

At the time of the lawsuit, Chicago Police could not provide information on the death. Law Department spokesman Bill McCaffrey refused to comment on the $1 million settlement.

It’s on the agenda for Tuesday’s Finance Committee meeting, the first to be chaired by Ald. Pat O’Connor (40th), who took over as chairman after the resignation of the longtime former chairman, Ald. Edward Burke (14th).

The agenda item on the settlement names 10 Chicago Police officers as defendants, as well as five detention aides.