WRONGFUL-DEATH SUIT NAMES A TOP COP'S SON

The son of one of the Chicago Police Department's top cops was named Friday
in a lawsuit involving the death of a suspected drug dealer last summer.

The lawsuit claims that officer Daniel DeLopez, whose father is a deputy
superintendent, and officer Mark A. Zawila killed Gregory Riley, 31, during
a June 14 drug arrest on the West Side. DeLopez's father, Joseph A. DeLopez,
was promoted Feb. 1 to deputy superintendent of the Bureau of Technical
Services.

The wrongful-death suit had been filed last year in Cook County Circuit
Court on behalf of Riley's mother. It was amended Friday to include the
officers' names.

Riley died June 14 after struggling with officers. They had seen him selling
drugs in the 4300 block of West Adams. They chased him and handcuffed him,
police said.

An autopsy found morphine in his blood and a packet of white powder,
believed to be drugs, was found in his stomach, the Cook County medical
examiner said.

Riley died of asphyxia caused by compression of his neck and chest, the
medical examiner said.

"Mr. Riley was choked," said Joseph J. Cecala Jr., attorney for Riley's
mother, Antoinette Scott. "He didn't accidentally fall and choke to death."

Bill Nolan, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, disputed the finding
that the 5-foot-9-inch, 293-pound Riley was asphyxiated.

"It was his own obesity that led to his death," Nolan said.

Police spokesman Pat Camden said the relationship between father and son
will not influence the department's investigation.

The Office of Professional Standards is almost finished with its report,
sources said. OPS is waiting for a private autopsy that the family
commissioned.

The attorney who filed the suit said he has not seen any indication of
special treatment of DeLopez.

Riley's death came a little more than a week after unarmed motorists LaTanya
Haggerty and Robert Russ were killed in separate police shootings. The cases
launched weeks of City Hall protests.

Police Supt. Terry Hillard said Friday the department is looking for
patterns of excessive force, verbal abuse and other problems.

A new computer system, which should be running by April, will help identify
those officers, take them off the street and refer them to counseling,
Hillard said.

The city has budgeted about $340,000 for the Complaint Register Management
System.