Family of 8-year-old Latino Boy Killed in Police Car Chase to Receive $1.25 Million

The city of Tucson has quietly agreed to pay $1.25 million to the family of an 8-year-old boy who died after a traffic crash that occurred when a police officer ran a red light. A Tucson Police Department inquiry found the officer ran the light while on an emergency call and collided with a small SUV, fatally injuring Jordan Horn Rodriguez in 2003. On a motion by Councilwoman Carol West, the council Tuesday voted in public to have its attorney "proceed as discussed" earlier that day in a closed-door executive session on the lawsuit. The council did not disclose that a settlement had been reached, much less the payment amount. West confirmed the settlement amount when contacted by a reporter Saturday. The motion passed unanimously, with Councilman Fred Ronstadt away on city business. The payment exceeds a $1 million settlement paid in 2001 to a man shot by police, which at that time was the largest single claim paid by the city since it became self-insured in 1986. Officer Justin Lane, who was a three-year Tucson police officer at the time of the traffic wreck, served a 40-hour disciplinary suspension last year after police determined he should have used greater care and slowed appropriately as he drove south on North Oracle Road near West Glenn Street on Nov. 29, 2003. Attorneys Richard Grand and Michael Meehan filed the lawsuit last year against the city on behalf of the boy's parents, Shannon Horn and Luis Rodriguez, and his sister, Tiffany Rodriguez, who were with him in the Geo Tracker when the collision occurred. Meehan, reached Saturday, said the family is relieved that that the matter is concluded. [more]