The family of a 28-year-old man who was struck and killed by a car in front of his Oak Lawn home in June wants the driver to get more than a speeding ticket.
Murod Kurdi had parked in front of his house in the 5100 block of West 91st Street the evening of June 5, when he was struck by a passing car and thrown 15 feet.
The driver, Leanne Cusack, allegedly told police at the scene that she had been drinking before the crash, but she refused a Breathalyzer test and was sent home with a ticket for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, according to police reports.
Standing outside the Cook County Courthouse in Bridgeview on Tuesday as Cusack made her first appearance in traffic court, Kurdi’s mother and several dozen supporters called for felony charges to be filed against Cusack, and they questioned why police released Cusack when it was clear at the scene that Kurdi had been gravely hurt. Kurdi died after several days on life support.
“Members of the Oak Lawn Police Department did not think that Murod’s life mattered,” Kurdi’s mother, Fadia Muhamad, told reporters gathered outside the courthouse, as supporters held signs with her son’s photo.
Cusack will fight the ticket, and a trial in traffic court will probably happen next month, said her lawyer, Bob Olson. One officer noted a “faint” smell of alcohol on Cusack’s breath, but police reports indicate she did not appear impaired, Olson said.
“The police did a really good job,” Olson said, pointing out that Cusack stopped and returned to the scene almost immediately. According to the reports, Cusack told police that she felt a “bump” but wasn’t aware that she’d struck Kurdi. She stopped when she saw bystanders running into the street to help him.
“There were no indicators she was impaired, and they didn’t think she was under the influence,” Olson said. Olson said that Cusack has received death threats and was still “very upset.”
“She feels terrible about the accident,” he said. “But it was an accident.”
The lack of stiffer charges in the fatal crash has renewed criticism from Oak Lawn’s large Arab community. Kurdi, a Palestinian, was killed a year after 17-year-old Hadi Abuatelah was badly beaten by Oak Lawn police when he fled from a traffic stop. After months of protests outside village offices, one of the officers, Patrick O’Donnell, in February was charged with official misconduct and aggravated battery in connection with the teen’s arrest.
Additional charges against Cusack are not likely, said David Petrich, an attorney for Kurdi’s family, owing to what he called “fatal flaws” in the investigation. The family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Cusack.
Officers could have sought a warrant to draw Cusack’s blood, Petrich said, based on her admission that she had had a “16-ounce pint and a shot of Patron” at a bar before the crash.
Cusack’s boyfriend arrived at the scene and was with her as she talked to police. When Cusack said she was at Demma’s Bar & Grill about an hour before the crash, the boyfriend “corrected her,” saying they were drinking at Delta Lounge two hours earlier. Video from inside Delta Lounge did not show anyone resembling Cusack in the bar in the hours before the crash, police reports state. The reports do not indicate whether investigators also sought video from Demma’s.
Cusack refused to take physical tests and a Breathalyzer when asked by an officer who arrived at the scene later, according to the reports.
“We always advise our clients not to take a Breathalyzer,” said Olson, who spoke with Cusack the night of the crash, but he was not sure if it was before or after police had sent her home.
“I don’t want to be liable for someone walking in front of a car, you know,” Cusack told the officer, according to police reports. Doorbell camera footage shows Kurdi parking his Ford F-150 on the street, according to police reports. He got out of the truck on the driver’s side and was hit as he was shutting the door.
Petrich said Oak Lawn’s village prosecutor told him Tuesday that police had finished their investigation. Petrich urged state Attorney General Kwame Raoul to investigate the department, and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to seek felony charges in the case.
“As far as Oak Lawn is concerned, their investigation is complete,” Petrich said. “If anything is going to happen, it’s going to happen by another agency.”
