JOLIET — Abigail Barrow, a young woman from Plainfield who suffered serious injuries during a Jan. 7 crash along Plainfield Road near Interstate 55, filed a civil lawsuit Friday at the Will County Courthouse against the city of Joliet, Joliet police officer Alfonso Sanchez and the criminal defendant accused of fleeing from the police.
In January, Joliet Patch reported that 31-year-old Mohammed Nakhleh, of Plainfield, crashed into another couple’s vehicle near the Interstate 55 on-ramp by the Louis Joliet Mall, seriously injuring the 26-year-old Villa Park man and his 25-year-old Plainfield female passenger.
As for Officer Sanchez, he was patrolling for Joliet even though he himself had a revoked or suspended driver’s license; Sanchez also ignored and disobeyed orders from Joliet police supervisors who called off the Jan. 7 nighttime police pursuit, the lawsuit states.
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In June, Joliet Patch broke the news Officer Sanchez was given a punishment of 75 days of unpaid work suspension after the internal affairs investigation was conducted related to his role in January’s high-speed chase with the fleeing criminal defendant.
On Friday, a source told Patch that Sanchez was notified in late October of his termination from the Joliet Police Department; for now, however, Sanchez remains on the city’s payroll because his FOP contract allows him to appeal his recommended firing to the city’s police and fire board or commissioners or to an outside arbitrator.
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A hearing on Sanchez’s recommended job termination has not been scheduled, so far.
Friday’s lawsuit was filed by the Law Offices of Paul Jacobs in Chicago, and the plaintiff is seeking a judgment in excess of $50,000:
“Defendant Sanchez had a duty to refrain from willful and wanton conduct in the operation of its official vehicle in the exercise of its official duties as police officers.”
The lawsuit accused Officer Sanchez of showing “an utter indifference to or conscious disregard for the safety of others, including Abigail Barrow.”
The lawsuit says that prior to the fleeing criminal suspect’s crash into the vehicle where Barrow was a passenger, Officer Jorge Trujillo was assigned to stationary patrol near 2421 Route 59 facing southbound traffic toward the 4800 block of Caton Farm Road.
According to the suit, Officer Trujillo saw a 2022 Mercedes-Benz S 580, driven by criminal defendant Nakhleh, driving westbound on Caton Farm Road. The officer saw the driver commit a traffic violation for failing to signal while turning on to Pebble Beach Drive.
The officer activated his blue and red flashing lights and tried to pull over the Mercedes Benz, but “the Mercedes did not stop and continued southbound on Pebble Beach Drive traveling at a high rate of speed,” court records show.
After the Mercedes reached a high rate of speed and turned eastbound along Vermette Circle, Joliet Police Sgt. Bill Otis ordered Officer Trujillo to terminate the pursuit, which is exactly what the officer did, turning off his blue and red emergency lights and sirens, the lawsuit noted.
Meanwhile, one minute after Sgt. Otis notified all officers over the police radio to terminate the pursuit, Officer Sanchez was traveling west on Caton Farm, and saw the Mercedes near Bronk Road.
Officer Sanchez made a U-turn and chased after the Mercedes along Caton Farm Road and “Sanchez did not activate his emergency lights and or siren during this pursuit,” the lawsuit said.
Officer Sanchez traveled in excess of 80 mph in a 30-mph zone heading east on Caton Farm and then on to the northbound West Frontage Road. The young officer did not activate his emergency lights, and in fact, he turned off his headlights and tail lights, the lawsuit said.
With Officer Sanchez in close pursuit, the fleeing Mercedes accelerated at a high rate of speed and sped on to Plainfield Road, which is Route 30, “and within seconds” collided with a 2024 Chevy Equinox owned and driven by Kasey Artrip, who was driving west on Plainfield Road, the lawsuit said.
Barrow was the front seat passenger in the Chevy Equinox.
At the time of the crash involving the other two vehicles, Officer “Sanchez was still in pursuit of the Mercedes at the time of the collision … the collision caused severe and permanent injuries to Abigail Barrow,” her lawsuit stated.
According to her lawyer, “at no time during his pursuit of the Mercedes, did Sanchez communicate with Otis and or any other commanding officer and inform them that he was pursuing the Mercedes and or provide any information as to the location, speed and or any actions he may have been taken while in pursuit of the Mercedes,” the lawsuit noted, reiterating the fact that Officer Sanchez “was driving on a revoked and or suspended driver’s license.”
Artrip, the driver of the Equinox, has also filed a similar lawsuit in Will County.
Related Joliet Patch Coverage:
75-Day Unpaid Suspension For Joliet Cop In High-Speed Chase, Crash
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