Family calls for more charges after alleged drunk driver fatally struck Murod Kurdi in Oak Lawn
OAK LAWN, Ill. - Members of Chicago's Arab-American community are demanding that Oak Lawn police file new charges against a driver who accidentally killed a local resident.
Additionally, they are calling for a state investigation.
Friends, family, and members of Chicago's Arab-American community gathered outside the Bridgeview courthouse on Tuesday to argue that 28-year-old Murod Kurdi's death deserves more than a speeding ticket.
"Murod Kurdi was killed, and the Oak Lawn Police Department let his killer go home," said Muhammad Sankari of the Arab-American Action Network.
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On June 5th, Kurdi was hit and killed in front of his Oak Lawn home by a car driven by 27-year-old Leeane Cusack, who told police she had been coming from a bar where she had consumed a shot and a beer. An officer smelled alcohol on her breath, but Cusack refused a breathalyzer test. Police did not call the state's attorney's office to force a blood draw. Instead, they gave Cusack a ticket for failure to reduce speed and allowed her to go home.
"This investigation, for whatever reason, and we will get to the reason, did not go the way it should have," said attorney David Petrich, who is representing Kurdi’s family.
But Cusack's attorney says the police report shows she passed several field sobriety tests and did not appear to be impaired.
"They gave her an HGN test which is the horizontal nystagmus test to see a jerking of the eyes," said attorney Robert Olson. "She passed that test. My client was not impaired. She didn't do anything wrong."
Cusack’s driver's license has been suspended for a year for refusing the breathalyzer test, but Kurdi's family wants the state to investigate why tougher charges weren't filed.
"I strongly urge the Attorney General to investigate the Oak Lawn Police Department so no other parent will have to endure what I have," said Fadia Muhamad, Kurdi’s mother.
In a statement, the Oak Lawn Police Department said: "Ms. Cusack showed zero signs of impairment. Officers also noted that her speech was clear, logical, coherent, and not mumbled or slurred … Based on all of the evidence gathered, this was a tragic accident, and our village continues to mourn the loss of Mr. Kurdi and pray for his family."
Cusack was also given an unusual courtesy at the Bridgeview Courthouse earlier today in that she was allowed to enter and leave through a separate door. Her attorney said that's because she has been receiving death threats.