'It could've happened to anyone': Family sues city after Dakotah Earley is left paralyzed after shooting
CHICAGO (CBS) -- You probably remember this video: A man shot multiple times in Lincoln Park, all for his cell phone.
Nine months later, the victim, Dakotah Earley, is speaking out for the first time, announcing a lawsuit against the mayor, the city of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department.
CBS 2's Sara Machi reports Earley claims policy changes put him in harm's way. The argument is this: changes to the police pursuit policy have hampered "rank-and-file" officers ability to do their jobs.
Earley and his mother said after everything that's happened, their main goal is to move forward. Helped through the door by his mother, using a wheelchair to get to the podium, Dakotah Earley talks about his new life for the first time.
"I mean, you know, you become an amputee and you think all stuff was a lot easier and stuff like that. But I'm in good spirits most of the time," Earley said.
"It's been a long road to recovery for the 24-year-old who, during an attempted robbery, was shot twice in the back, once in the head May 6th last year. Injuries that put him in a coma, requiring more than a dozen surgeries including amputation and a prosethetic.
And all of it, his lawyers said, was avoidable.
"It is a department systemic problem," said attorney Cass Casper.
In their federal lawsuit, Earley's attorneys said Chicago police had tracked a stolen car parked by Northerly Island. The lawyers alledge police "initially approached the vehicle, but then let it go." That same car, attorneys said, was later identified as the getaway vehicle used by shooting suspect Tyson Brownlee in Lincoln Park an hour later.
"The non-pursuit policies are what put police officers in the unenviable position where they could not do their jobs," Casper said.
Earley and his family said they want a jury trial, seeking an undefined amount in damages, as they try to move forward.
"We are moving forward and it is a process. It is definitely a club that neither of us signed up for," said his mother Joy Dobbs.
City of Chicago representatives said "The Department of Law does not comment on pending litigation."
"You know, it could've happened to anyone, honestly, which is the crazy part about it," Earley said.
In their news conference, Earley's attorneys are soliciting information from an unlikely source. They say they want to hear from rank-and-file officers about the way any policy changes are impacting their ability to do their jobs.
There is also a GoFundMe site set up to help pay for all of Earley's ongoing medical bills.
