EAST CHICAGO â City firefighters are asking a federal judge to side with them in a labor dispute with the mayor.
Some 38 members of the East Chicago Professional Firefighters Local 365 are suing Mayor Anthony Copeland this week in U.S. District Court in Hammond.
They demand the judge restore their old on-duty/off-duty schedule and force Copelandâs administration to pay for depriving them of sleep, family time and their freedom of political expression.
Carla Morgan, an attorney for the mayor, said Copeland will reserve comment until they study the newly filed litigation. The mayor has repeatedly denied he is wreaking political retaliation on the firefighters.
Pichon s boyfriend, 32-year-old Donnell Howard Jr. of Highland, Indiana, then led police on a chase that ended when his car collided with another vehicle in Hammond, killing Chambers and seriously injuring her grandmother, Theresa Paramo. A 13-year-old girl was killed and her grandmother critically injured when an SUV being chased by police in northwest Indiana slammed into their vehicle on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said. Lauren Petty reports.
Howard and Pichon each pleaded guilty in late 2017 to two counts of resisting law enforcement and were later sentenced to 15 years in prison. But the state conceded neither entered into their plea agreements knowingly and voluntarily. Howard entered a new guilty plea Monday to one count of resisting law enforcement and is scheduled to be re-sentenced March 29. Pichon is scheduled to enter a new plea March 11.
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A $1.2M settlement was reached over a high-speed Hammond and East Chicago police chase that ended in a crash that killed 13-year-old Julianna Chambers.
CROWN POINT â An attorney for a Whiting family said this week a $1.2 million settlement was reached in a federal lawsuit against East Chicago, Hammond and five of the cities police officers involved in a deadly pursuit four years ago.
The high-speed chase Feb. 15, 2017, resulted in the death of 13-year-old Julianna Chambers and severely injured her grandmother Theresa Paramo. Our primary concern was not only to provide compensation to the family for the indescribable harm they suffered, but also to ensure this lawsuit led to positive changes in police procedures during high-speed pursuits, attorney Lawrence T. Ruder said.
Ruder, who represented the family along with Merrillville attorney Thomas A. Clements, said there is national consensus among experts in the U.S. that high-speed police pursuits are inherently dangerous to the community and can lead to serious injury or death.