City of Chicago changes explanation for traffic stop that led to deadly police shooting
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Lawyers for the City of Chicago said the officers who conducted a traffic stop that ended in the fatal shooting of Dexter Reed earlier this year did so because of tinted windows, contradicting an earlier explanation that the stop was because of a seatbelt violation.
Reed's family filed a federal lawsuit against the city, claiming police had no valid reason to pull Reed over. In court on Wednesday, the judge presiding over the case urged both parties to try to settle before a long and arduous legal process ahead if the lawsuit goes to trial.
"The family of Dexter Reed is devastated," said Andrew Stroth, an attorney for Reed's family. "Their son was shot and killed as a result of an unjustified traffic stop."
Reed, 26, was shot and killed by police on March 21 in Humboldt Park after five tactical officers pulled him over. The stop was recorded on police body camera video.
Investigators said Reed fired at them first. One officer was injured in the shootout.
In their lawsuit, Reed's family said officers "unloaded a barrage of bullets" onto him and killed him. Reed's family maintained that he got out of the car "unarmed with his hands empty and raised in sign of surrender."
Previously, Andrea Kersten, the chief administrator of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, said officers stopped Reed for "not wearing a seatbelt." But in a letter she sent to Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling, she wrote "available evidence calls into question the veracity of this account."
"What we hope is that we are going to get through the discovery process and we'll be able to ask these questions: Why did the officers at the scene initially say they stopped Dexter for a seatbelt violation?" said Sheila Bedi, a clinical professor of law at Northwestern University's law school. "That fact is documented. Why are the lawyers now saying, 'Oh, it wasn't for a seatbelt. It was for tinted windows.'"
In a federal courtroom on Wednesday, a judge mentioned a contradictory motion filed by the city saying the officers actually "lawfully stopped Dexter Reed for driving a vehicle with dark tinted windows."
"All of these cases cost millions of dollars to defend and taxpayer money is being wasted versus number one, addressing the core problem in our communities, as it relates to police, and following the consent decree and resolving these cases in an efficient manner that doesn't cost taxpayers millions of dollars," said Stroth.
The judge did not make a decision on whether to allow the city's change in the explanation for the traffic stop.
The Chicago Department of Law issued this statement in response to the issue: "To be clear, there is no discrepancy in the motion to dismiss. As re-emphasized during today's public hearing, the City specifically advised the court that one of the reasons for the stop was a seatbelt violation. Further commenting on ongoing litigation is imprudent."
The Chicago Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.