CHICAGO — Chicago aldermen advanced a plan Monday to award a $45 million settlement to a 15-year-old boy left unable to talk and walk after he was injured in a police chase car crash.

The settlement — set to become one of the largest in Chicago’s history if it passes the full City Council Wednesday — will help pay for the medical care of Nathen Jones. Jones suffered “catastrophic” injuries in a high-speed April 2021 crash during a police chase. He will need around-the-clock medical care for the rest of his life, according to his family’s attorneys.

The settlement passed unanimously in the council’s Finance Committee Monday as aldermen offered sympathy to Jones and his mother, who watched the deliberation in the council chambers. The case involving the Chicago Police Department’s controversial “no-chase” policies shows “there are rules in place for a reason,” Ald. Andre Vasquez, 40th, said.

“If somebody’s running through a stop sign, that doesn’t mandate a chase,” Vasquez said. “There was so much that could have been done differently.”

Jones was in the back seat of a 2002 Volkswagen CC that police attempted to pull over for disregarding a stop sign in the West Town neighborhood. When officers turned on their lights, the Volkswagen’s driver, Khalil Raggs, drove off, sparking a high-speed chase down North Wood Street and North Damen Avenue.

Officer Jhonathan Perez drove his police cruiser at top speeds of 67 miles per hour “before turning off his emergency equipment and slowing his car,” city attorney Margaret Mendenhall Casey said. But seconds later, the Volkswagen sped into the intersection at Damen and Grand avenues, where it crashed into another car.

Raggs, also named in Jones’ lawsuit, was sentenced to three years in prison for the crash and charges related to a gun found in his car. Jones suffered catastrophic brain injuries, according to his attorneys.

“Nathen is nonverbal, cannot dress or bathe independently and requires assistance for all activities. He wears diapers and is fed through a feeding tube,” Mendenhall Casey said.

CPD vehicle chase policies do not allow officers to pursue drivers for minor traffic offenses. Perez, who remains on active duty, later testified that the chase violated department policy. The city would likely be required to pay for all of Jones’ lifetime medical expenses if it were found at all responsible for the crash in court, Mendenhall Casey said.

No amount of money can turn Jones back into the happy, healthy 15-year-old he was before the crash, his mother, Erika Boyd, said at a news conference later Monday. Her days are now defined by her son’s complex needs, she said.

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