City to weigh $15.5M in settlements for families whose relatives died during encounters with first responders

Chicago taxpayers will be asked to pay $15.5 million to compensate two families who lost relatives because of alleged mistakes made by first responders.

The largest of the settlements before the City Council’s Finance Committee Wednesday, $8 million, would go to the family of Leonardo Guerrero, 44, who stopped breathing after being strapped to a stretcher in a Chicago Fire Department ambulance Aug. 31, 2022.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office ruled Guerrero’s death of cardiac arrest a homicide after determining that his fatal heart attack was caused in part by the physical restraints applied by paramedics. High blood pressure triggered by alcohol and cocaine use was a contributing factor, the medical examiner said.

The city’s liability for Guerrero’s death was heightened by the f