A Cook County judge on Friday ordered Dolton to develop a plan for paying a $33.5 million judgment and accrued interest from a police chase lawsuit filed in 2022.
Village officials presented concerns Tuesday that Judge William Sullivan would force the Dolton board to pass a bond that would drastically raise property taxes, as requested by attorneys for the plaintiffs in the police chase lawsuit.
Sullivan said the village has three options to pay off the debt, which has accrued 6% per year through interest, or about $2 million per year per the lawsuit petition: issue a bond, issue a tax levy increase or increases costs of services. As of Friday, the village owes $40.6 million to the families of John Kyles, who died following the 2016 police chase, and Duane Dunlap, who was left severely injured.
Mayor Jason House urged residents to attend Friday’s court hearing so “there are a lot of faces that demonstrate how interested we are and the impact that can have on us.” Many Dolton residents did show up and, in the comment section of the court hearing held via Zoom, asked the judge to show mercy on the village, where the median household income is about $58,000 and 22% of residents are below the poverty line.
Sullivan said he was concerned the village has yet to make payments on the $33.5 million or the interest.
But Sullivan also said he is privy to the difficulties residents would face if he instituted the $40 million 10-year bond requested by the plaintiffs’ attorneys. Dolton attorney Michael McGrath said Tuesday that issuing the bond would cost property owners with the village’s average $150,000 home value an extra $655 per year, at minimum.
“I want you to know that I have strongly considered the equities in the issuing of my ruling,” Sullivan said directly to Dolton residents attending Friday’s hearing.
Sullivan said the Village Board must approve a plan for paying the judgment by the next scheduled hearing at 10 a.m. on April 23.
Dolton Trustee Edward Steave, left, and Mayor Jason House speak as the Village Board gathers Feb. 17, 2026, to discuss the impact on taxpayers of a multimillion-dollar verdict on behalf of a man who died following a 2016 police chase. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Dolton financial crisis
McGrath on Tuesday placed much of the blame for the village’s current financial crisis on former Mayor Tiffany Henyard.
Dolton recently brought a lawsuit against Fifth Third Bank, which it said aided in Henyard’s misappropriations by allowing her to sign payments to vendors with checks from the village that were missing the clerk’s signature.
But attorneys for the plaintiffs in the police chase lawsuit say the current administration’s inaction has cost the village more in interest than they say Henyard stole or misappropriated.
“When it comes to Dolton’s duty to pay the judgment, Dolton appears to have had no strategy other than foot dragging and kicking the can down the road,” attorneys for the administrator for Kyles and a guardian for Dunlap said in a Feb. 6 court filing. “Dolton has been acting like the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand.”
Attorneys for the plaintiffs offered a potential 5% discount on the 10-year bond as an incentive for the village to take out a bond by March 1. The first payment on the bond would be due Jan. 1, 2027.
McGrath said Tuesday the village was considering petitioning Gov. JB Pritzker to establish a financial planning and supervision commission to help the village develop a plan to alleviate its financial crisis, freezing all debts for up to two years.
“It might help you breathe a little bit and get through these tough times,” McGrath said.
Village attorneys also blame its former insurers, and wrote in court filings that forcing the village to acquiesce would have devastating financial effects on residents.
McGrath said Tuesday the village and the plaintiffs of the police chase lawsuit joined together to hire an outside law firm to sue the insurers for acting in bad faith. McGrath said the American Alternative Insurance Corporation refused to settle before and during the trial, leading to the $33.5 million judgment.
McGrath said attorneys hope to recover as much as $100 million from the insurance company, though “the outcome on that case, like any litigation, is certainly not certain.” He said he expects the federal case will continue for at least five years.
Dolton police case
The 2016 Dolton police chase stemmed from a traffic violation after the Kyles’ and Dunlap’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 Illinois’ 1st Judicial District said attorneys claimed the police vehicle had a dashboard camera with footage that, despite a court order, the village never produced.
“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.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/20/cook-county-judge-dolton-pay-33-5-million-judgment/
