Decisions in two lawsuits against the village of Dolton are contributing to financial troubles, with the village owing $33.5 million from one case and having $440,000 in funds frozen from another.
An Illinois Appellate Court affirmed June 20 the $33.5 million verdict on behalf of John Kyles, who died following a 2016 police chase in Dolton, and a second man, Duane Dunlap, who was left severely injured, according to court documents.
Attorneys said the chase stemmed from a traffic violation after the men’s car skidded through a stop sign. Police chased the vehicle for about a mile until the vehicle crashed into a building.
Kyles died while Dunlap was left with “severe, catastrophic and permanent injuries,” according to the wrongful death lawsuit filed in November 2019. The ruling from the Appellate Court in 1st Judicial District said attorneys claimed the police vehicle had a dashboard camera with footage that, despite a court order, the village never produced.
When the jury award was announced in August 2022, attorneys from Loevy & Loevy said they believed it to be one of the largest police misconduct cases in Illinois history.
“This is a case (the village) should have settled,” said Jon Loevy, an attorney representing the administrator for Kyles and a guardian for Dunlap. “They could have settled for a fraction of this.”
Despite Dolton’s appeal, the village never sought a stay on the payment and it was considered “present and due” when attorneys filed a petition on behalf of a guardian and administrator of the two men in the police chase in January, according to the petition.
The petition expressed concerns about the village’s ability to pay the judgment due to “a breakdown of governance” and insufficient insurance coverage. They detailed allegations of Mayor Tiffany Henyard’s spending woes, such as repeatedly misappropriating funds and refusing to disclose details of the village’s spending.
“Plaintiffs have reason to fear that Dolton, if not ordered to take affirmative steps to marshal assets to satisfy the judgment, will continue to fail to pay and that Dolton will dissipate and divert assets that might be otherwise be available to satisfy the judgment,” the petition said.
“Without granting the mandamus and other relief requested in this complaint, plaintiffs have a dim chance of being paid the judgment because there has been a complete breakdown of the village of Dolton’s accounting internal controls, and checks and balances, endangering plaintiffs’ judgment,” it said.
Loevy said the village has yet to post bonds for the $33.5 million, which has accrued 6% per year through interest, or $2.1 million per year per the petition. Village officials declined to comment on ongoing litigation.
A Cook County court also recently froze about $440,000 in village funds after a June 24 hearing because Dolton failed to pay a settlement in a whistleblower lawsuit by former Dolton Detective David Graham from 2019.
Graham’s attorney, Patrick Walsh of Griffin Williams McMahon & Walsh, said the Dolton Village Board agreed to pay just over $220,000 in attorneys fees and costs and signed the check, “but it’s just sitting on the mayor’s desk.”
Trustee Kiana Belcher said she believes Henyard may have chosen not to send the check due to “personal agendas and political attacks” against Walsh, who she said represents people and groups in the village who oppose Henyard’s administration.
The lawsuit was settled Feb. 28, and should have been paid within the following 30 days, Walsh said. Since then, the payment has accrued about $4,000 in interest.
“It’s money that citizens shouldn’t be paying to us,” Walsh said Friday.
Ahead of a hearing scheduled for July 23, Walsh said he plans to file a motion to direct the village’s bank to turn over the funds. The village failing to pay a settlement to the point that the court freezes funds is “totally unprecedented,” he said.
“I’ve been suing municipalities for almost 20 years and never had to do it before,” he said. “And I’ve never heard of it being done.”
Belcher said “it’s a disgrace” that the mayor’s office has not paid the settlement and serves as one of many examples of poor financial direction from Henyard.
“It’s very disturbing when we have to have that type of money on hold when the board approved it a couple months ago, and the check should have been paid out,” Belcher said. “But that goes back to everyone seeing that the mismanagement of funds with this administration is happening daily.”
The village will be able to use the remainder of the $440,000 in funds once it pays the settlement, Walsh said. According to court documents, Dolton had $809,000 total in the account where the funds were frozen.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
