Court Opinion

ID: 9712080
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:46:09.519497+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:09.771715
License: Public Domain

PRESIDING JUSTICE JIGANTI, specially concurring in part and dissenting in part: The second amended complaint, count I, charged the Village of Chicago Ridge with willful and wanton conduct in the police chase of Edward McDade and in count II charged the Village of Worth with willful and wanton conduct in the police chase of Edward McDade. Count III related to the Village of Alsip and was voluntarily dismissed. Count IV charged the Villages of Chicago Ridge and Worth with willful and wanton conduct because they acted in concert in attempting to apprehend Edward McDade and that Officer White of the Village of Worth struck Christine Arnold. Each of the defendants filed motions to dismiss counts I and II pursuant to section 2 — 615 of the Code of Civil Procedure. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 110, par. 2 — 615.) An order was entered dismissing counts I and II against the Villages of Chicago Ridge and Worth. The order further struck count IV and granted the plaintiff 28 days to file a third amended complaint as to count IV only. A third amended complaint was filed and in count I stated that “Plaintiff makes no further allegations as to Count I in that said Count was previously dismissed by Order of Court.” A similar statement was made as to count II concerning the Village of Worth. Count IV of this complaint alleged that the villages acted in concert again and also alleged that the police officer from the Village of Chicago Ridge struck the plaintiff. Each of the villages filed a motion for summary judgment with regard to count IV. The motions were allowed. The plaintiff filed a notice of appeal contending that it wished to appeal from the dismissal of the first two counts of the complaint and also from the summary judgment on count IV of the complaint. The villages contend that the dismissals of counts I and II are not appeala-ble. I agree with the majority’s conclusion that they are appealable. Consequently, before this court are the dismissals of counts I and II on the pleadings and the summary judgment entered in favor of the villages on count IV. The Village of Chicago Ridge makes no argument concerning the sufficiency of the complaint against it in count I. However, the Village of Worth contends that under count II, the complaint fails to state a claim because the Village of Worth did not have a duty as a matter of law. This contention would be equally applicable to Chicago Ridge. The argument of the village is premised on a proposition of law which states that municipalities in Illinois generally are not liable for failure to provide police protection. (Huey v. Town of Cicero (1968), 41 Ill. 2d 361, 243 N.E.2d 214; Marvin v. Chicago Transit Authority (1983), 113 Ill. App. 3d 172, 446 N.E.2d 1183.) The Village of Worth contends that the complaint charges the Village of Worth with failure to provide police protection and under Huey there is no liability. There is an exception to that general rule whereby a municipality may be liable for a failure to provide police protection where they have assumed a special duty to the plaintiff. (Huey v. Town of Cicero (1968), 41 Ill. 2d 361, 243 N.E.2d 214; Long v. Soderquist (1984), 126 Ill. App. 3d 1059, 467 N.E.2d 1153.) The village further contends that sufficient facts are not alleged to establish that there was a special duty on the part of the Village of Worth. The plaintiff contends, and I agree, that she need not plead a special duty because the proposition espoused by the village is not applicable. The plaintiff maintains that another proposition of law is controlling, that is, that police officers have a duty to exercise ordinary care in carrying out their responsibilities. (Huey v. Town of Cicero (1968), 41 Ill. 2d 361, 243 N.E.2d 214; Andrews v. City of Chicago (1967), 37 Ill. 2d 309, 226 N.E.2d 597.) At the time of the occurrence the officers in the instant case were carrying out their responsibilities. Case law supports the plaintiff’s position. In Sundin v. Hughes (1969), 107 Ill. App. 2d 195, 246 N.E.2d 100, a Chicago police officer was pursuing a vehicle operated by Larry Benford. The Benford vehicle struck a pedestrian named Eiermann whose body in turn struck the plaintiff Sundin. The complaint charged Officer Hughes with negligence. The defendant contended that the complaint failed to allege a duty. The appellate court found that a duty had been sufficiently alleged. In Moore v. Cook (1959), 22 Ill. App. 2d 48, 159 N.E.2d 496, a police officer engaged in a chase struck the plaintiff’s automobile. In affirming the recovery of a judgment by the plaintiff, the court explained that a police officer is answerable to private persons resulting from the negligent performance of the officer’s ministerial duties. In Brooks v. Lundeen (1977), 49 Ill. App. 3d 1, 364 N.E.2d 423, the defendant municipality through its police department set up a roadblock to intercept a car driven by Lundeen. The plaintiff’s decedent approached the roadblock and was directed by the police to park on the shoulder of the road. The decedent was not informed of the purpose of the roadblock. The Lundeen car collided head on with the decedent’s vehicle, causing his death. The appellate court stated that case law holds that the police officer acting “in the performance of his duties in circumstances similar to those seen in this case owes a duty to exercise ordinary care for the safety of others in carrying out his responsibilities.” (Brooks, 49 Ill. App. 3d at 6, 364 N.E.2d at 427.) The complaint in the instant case charges the villages with violating the duty owed in the performance of their duties. It does not charge that they failed to provide police protection. The dismissals of counts I and II should be reversed. Both the Village of Worth and the Village of Chicago Ridge filed motions for summary judgment as to count IV. The motions must be considered separately. The Village of Worth alleges that they had no involvement in the pursuit of McDade prior to the impact with the plaintiff. The motion for summary judgment should be allowed. The evidence that the Village of Worth participated in the chase emanates from a service-record card which is made any time an officer calls in any particular incident. The card was made out by a dispatcher and indicated that four police units assisted Chicago Ridge on the chase. The four officers whose names were listed on the card as being involved in the chase testified that they arrived after the impact and assisted in traffic supervision. There is no contrary evidence. I do not believe it is possible from these facts to draw the inference that the Village of Worth breached any duty to the plaintiff. Consolino v. Thompson (1984), 127 Ill. App. 3d 31, 35, 468 N.E.2d 422, 425-26. The Village of Chicago Ridge in its motion for summary judgment on count IV argues that its vehicle driven by Officer White did not strike the plaintiff and absent striking the plaintiff the situation is the same as in count II, which was dismissed, and therefore summary judgment should be allowed. Even if we were to accept the argument of Chicago Ridge that Officer White did not strike the plaintiff, we have previously ruled in this opinion that the Village of Chicago Ridge does owe a duty to the plaintiff. Consequently, this motion for summary judgment should be denied.