Chicago Police Board Fires Officer Jamie Jawor For 2017 Crash That Killed Off-Duty Cop, Second Driver
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Chicago Police Board on Thursday voted to fire a veteran officer for a crash in 2017 that killed an off-duty cop and another driver.
Police said Officer Jamie Jawor, who was in an unmarked vehicle, spotted a Jeep making sudden lane changes and gave chase.
Off-duty officer Taylor Clark was driving the Jeep. He had just wrapped up his shift in the Ogden District on the West Side on-duty officers – including Jawor - spotted his Jeep Cherokee – which matched the description of a vehicle wanted in a carjacking, First Assistant Corporation Counsel Renai Rodney explained in 2019.
Clark sped away from the officers' unmarked squad car, reaching speeds of up to 107 mph, and running a red light at the intersection of Roosevelt Road and Kostner Avenue, where he crashed into 27-year-old Chequita Adams' Nissan. Adams and Clark were killed in the crash.
Jawor did not activate her siren at any time during the pursuit, and didn't activate her flashing lights until just moments before the crash. Rodney said in 2019 that an expert hired by the city after Adams' family filed a lawsuit determined, had the officers activated the lights and sirens, Clark likely would have pulled over.
An investigation also determined that Jawor did not contact dispatch to notify them for the purpose of the chase.
Rodney said in 2019 that it turned out Clark's vehicle was not the one being sought in a carjacking, and because he died, authorities don't know why he started speeding.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability recommended that Jawor should be fired for driving without due regard for safety, and driving in excess of the speed limit. However, then-police Supt. Eddie Johnson rejected that recommendation, which meant a random member of the Chicago Police Board had to decide whether the board should take up the case.
A board member did decide to send Jawor's case to the full board, forcing Johnson to file formal disciplinary charges.
The City Council Finance Committee signed off on a $4.9 million settlement with Chequita's family in 2019.