Search fatalities

Kahleel Gaines-Streeter

Age : 17

Gender : Male

Race : Black

Date : 12/08/2021

Location : 1100 block of Glenwood Avenue

City : Joliet

County : Will

State : Illinois

Agency : Joliet Police Department

Officer(s) :Ken Macejak, Justin Aloisio, Casey Killian

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Driver killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

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REASON WHY PURSUIT WAS INITIATED:
Joliet Police responded to reports that shots had been fired from a vehicle near Cass and Collins Streets. Officers subsequently located a stolen vehicle matching the description near Cass and Eastern Avenue and attempted to stop it.
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EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 12/08/2021, at approximately 8:30 p.m., Joliet Police responded to the area of Cass and Collins Streets after receiving a report of gunfire from a vehicle. Officers subsequently located a stolen vehicle matching the description near Cass and Eastern Avenue. Police attempted a traffic stop and escalated a high-speed pursuit westbound on Cass Street when the driver continued driving away.
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Police lost sight of the vehicle as it crossed the Cass Street Bridge, but other Joliet officers subsequently located it traveling west on Western Avenue and continued the pursuit. Police alleged they discontinued the pursuit because the vehicle was traveling at high speed through residential neighborhoods without headlights.
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Shortly afterward, the vehicle crashed into a large tree in the 1100 block of Glenwood Avenue at approximately 8:44 p.m. The impact caused the vehicle to catch fire. Seventeen-year-old passenger Kahleel Gaines-Streeter was killed. Two other teenagers were critically injured and hospitalized. One of them, 18-year-old D’Shawn Amari Pierce, died from his injuries on 12/15/2021, making this a two-fatality pursuit crash.
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A later wrongful-death lawsuit challenged the police account and alleged negligence by Joliet officers in conducting the pursuit. Among the allegations were that officers operated police vehicles improperly during an emergency pursuit and continued the pursuit through a residential neighborhood.
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TOTAL FATALITIES/INJURIES:
2 Fatalities, 1 surviving passenger injured.
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DISPOSITION:
No criminal charges against Joliet Police officers for their role in initiating and continuing the pursuit were identified. A later civil lawsuit named officers Ken Macejak, Justin Aloisio and Casey Killian as defendants along with the City of Joliet and Joliet Police Department.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Officers Ken Macejak, Justin Aloisio and Casey Killian were identified as defendants in litigation arising from the fatal pursuit.
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LITIGATION:
A wrongful-death lawsuit was filed in Will County Circuit Court on behalf of Kahleel Gaines-Streeter and surviving passenger Montavian Jackson against the City of Joliet, Joliet Police Department and officers Ken Macejak, Justin Aloisio and Casey Killian. The lawsuit alleged numerous acts of negligence connected to the officers' conduct of the pursuit, including pursuing through a residential neighborhood and improper operation of police vehicles during the pursuit.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.wgnradio.com/news/chicago-news/joliet-police-pursuit-ends-in-fatal-crash/
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/joliet/ct-joliet-police-chase-fatal-crash-20211209-story.html
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/joliet-police-pursuit-ends-in-fatal-crash/2708094/
https://patch.com/illinois/joliet/joliet-police-face-wrongful-death-suit-after-2021-chase-2-teens-die