Winnebago County will pay $3.3 million to the family of a Rockford woman who was killed in a police chase.
Joy Lambert, 55, was killed in February 2016 when a vehicle fleeing a sheriff’s officer at speeds of up to 91 mph ploughed into her automobile.
Later that year, Lambert’s family filed a wrongful death complaint against the county, claiming that the chase was unnecessary because the car was simply speeding. Sheriff Gary Caruana relaxed pursuit limitations months before Lambert’s murder, claiming the county was struggling with an epidemic of vehicles evading traffic stops.
On Monday, the Rockford Register Star revealed the settlement agreement. The settlement does not involve any acknowledgement of wrongdoing, according to a representative for the Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s Office, and the family was not issued an apology.
The sheriff, Caruana, had already expressed sympathy to Lambert’s family and blamed her death on the fleeing driver.
