Dakotah Earley sues city of Chicago over police pursuit policies after violent Lincoln Park shooting

CHICAGO - Dakotah Earley nearly died and lost part of his leg after a shooting in Lincoln Park that lawyers say could have been prevented by the city of Chicago if it weren't for police pursuit policies in place. 

Lawyers for Dakotah filed a lawsuit against the city of Chicago Thursday morning naming Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Supt. David Brown as liable parities in the shooting. 

Dakotah has had 13 surgeries since the violent armed robbery on May 6, 2022, near the DePaul campus in the 1300 block of West Webster Avenue. 

He expects to undergo another surgery in the coming weeks. Dakotah was shot twice in the head and once in the back at close range during the attack.

Earley’s jaw was wired shut as doctors treated his wounds, and he was unable to speak for two months. He left the ICU at Illinois Masonic Medical Center in early June and was taken off dialysis.

Doctors even said Dakotah was believed to be dead for a few moments in the hospital following the shooting.

The Disparti Law Group is representing the Earleys as they sue the city for the crime since they believe it could have been prevented. Disparti lawyers presented evidence and theories they gathered and cited to file a complaint.

Tyshon Brownlee, 19, of Oak Park was charged last May in the shooting of Earley and in four other robberies in the area over a span of two days.

Attorney Cass Casper says Brownlee began his crime spree on Chicago North Side and in the Loop on May 4, 2022, two days before Earley was shot. 

Capser alleges that police knew the exact whereabouts of the stolen BMW Brownlee was driving near Soldier Field and began following him just an hour before he shot Dakotah. 

Because of a non-pursuit policy in place, responding officers had to call off their pursuit of Brownlee and file an eluding report, lawyers say. 

"We believe that the exact reason for that is not anything that the rank and file officers are responsible for. It is a department systemic problem. And it comes from one of a series of non-pursit policies that were passed by the city of Chicago in haste in 2020," Casper said.

The complaint holds Lightfoot, Brown and the city of Chicago liable for putting officers in a position where they could not do their jobs.