Chicago suburb OKs $1.25M settlement for man police tackled

EVANSTON, Ill. – The City Council in the Chicago suburb of Evanston has approved a $1.25 million settlement with a black man who sued after police tackled him and arrested him for stealing a car that turned out to be his own.

Evanston Spokesman Patrick Deignan says the council approved Lawrence Crosby’s settlement Monday. Crosby didn’t attend the meeting but told The Associated Press on Monday that he was fearful after seeing “so many situations where black people have been shot and killed just sitting in their cars.”

Crosby was repairing loose moulding on his car in October 2015 near Northwestern University where he was a doctoral student when a woman reported that he was stealing the vehicle. Despite raising his hands and trying to explain he was the owner, officers tackled him .