The Illinois Supreme Court held that the defendants, several police officers and their municipal employers, did not have immunity under section 4-106(b) of the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act in an action where the plaintiff was injured by a fleeing vehicle during a police chase. The court found that the person the police officers was chasing was not “an escaped or escaping prisoner” within the meaning of the Act, explaining that the officers did not have direct control of the person or the ability to limit the person’s freedom of movement to a particular place, as was required for section 4-106(b) to confer immunity to the officers, and that a “show of authority” by itself was not sufficient to establish that a person was being held in custody. (ANNE M. BURKE, GARMAN, THEIS, NEVILLE, MICHAEL J. BURKE, and OVERSTREET, concurring)
Illinois Supreme Court
Civil Court
Local Government Tort Immunity