Jury awards $17.5 million in lawsuit over fatal Chicago police pursuit crash

By Jim Greene

Published on October 25, 2005

The jury awarded Yong Huang $12.5 million for the wrongful death of his wife, Qing Chang, who was walking home from work when she was struck and killed by a car driven by Lakesha Smith, who was evading police after stealing a wallet. Another $5 million was awarded for the death of the unborn child revealed in an autopsy. The couple did not know Chang was pregnant.

A city spokesperson said the award would be appealed and expressed surprise that the jury found the city 75 percent responsible and Smith, who faces criminal charges in the deaths, only 25 percent responsible.

An investigation showed that a police sergeant supervising the response ordered an end to the pursuit, but that another sergeant disregarded the order and continued to chase Smith, who ran a red light and struck another vehicle before striking Chang.

One of Huang's attorneys said his client was upset that the police would not accept responsibility for his wife's death, but pleased that the department changed its pursuit procedure to further protect innocent bystanders.

Smith and passenger Kenneth Blake face charges of murder, felony murder, burglary and reckless homicide of an unborn child.

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