CITY TO PAY $250,000 IN SUSPECT'S DEATH A City Council committee Monday quietly approved a $250,000 settlement with the mother of a West Side man who died last year in a struggle with officers, including the son of a top Chicago cop. The Finance Committee agreed to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the mother of Gregory Riley, 31, who died after a June 14, 1999, drug arrest. The full City Council will consider the deal Wednesday, said Jennifer Hoyle of the city's Law Department. Riley died of asphyxia due to compression of the neck and chest, the Cook County medical examiner's office ruled. Joseph J. Cecala Jr., attorney for Riley's mother, Antoinette Scott, accused the officers of "choking" Riley, while the police union argued the convicted drug dealer's "obesity" led to his death. Riley was 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighed almost 300 pounds. His blood contained morphine, and a packet of cocaine was in his stomach, the medical examiner said. Officer Daniel DeLopez, whose father is deputy superintendent Joseph A. DeLopez, and Officer Mark A. Zawila were named in the suit. DeLopez and Zawila were on drug surveillance at Kostner and Adams when they saw Riley make about five deals, police said. Riley allegedly punched DeLopez in the face and after a foot chase, the officers struggled with Riley to arrest him, police said. DeLopez told an investigator from the medical examiner's office that he put a knee in Riley's back while another officer held his legs. Officer Michael Santos, however, told the investigator that no one was on Riley's legs, head or torso. Other officers handcuffed Riley, but he went limp and they took the cuffs off, the report said. An internal police investigation is continuing. Riley's death came just over a week after unarmed motorists LaTanya Haggerty and Robert Russ were killed in separate police shootings, sparking weeks of City Hall protests. Three officers were fired and one was suspended in the Haggerty case, and one officer was suspended in the Russ case. Suits against the city are pending. In July, the city agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a suit alleging that Frankie Ann Perkins died in 1997 after an officer put a knee on her chest, choked her and ordered her to spit out packages of cocaine. The Riley case also is similar to the 1995 death of Jorge Guillen, who died of asphyxiation after an officer used a three-point kneeling technique to handcuff Guillen, putting a knee in his back, the other on the ground and his hands free to hold his arms. The city paid a $637,000 legal settlement.
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