The family of a young man shot and killed by Chicago police during a struggle on the city’s Far North Side last December has filed a federal lawsuit against the city and its officers.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Chicago on Wednesday, charges more than a dozen civil rights violations under federal and state law, including excessive force, false arrest, unlawful seizure, assault, battery, infliction of emotional distress and conspiracy. CPD officers Jose Salazar and Gilberto Gomez are named in the suit.
Roberto Calvario Jr. was killed on Dec. 9 after two officers responded to the West Ridge neighborhood to investigate a stolen car parked at the 5700 block of North Washtenaw Avenue. As officers conducted their investigatory stop, police at the time said that a woman and two men, one of whom was later identified as Calvario, approached the stolen car in a separate dark-colored sedan.
Calvario attempted to enter the stolen car with another man when officers approached, police previously stated. The other man fled on foot while Calvario returned to the driver’s side of the awaiting sedan. The officers ordered him to exit the car, but he refused and a struggle ensued. Through the struggle, an officer discharged his weapon and Calvario was struck in the head. The 20-year-old was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
In January, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability released body-worn camera footage from the fatal shooting. The same day, the family’s lawyers — of the prominent law firm Loevy and Loevy — vowed to sue, insisting Calvario posed no threat.
The lawsuit filed this week alleges that Salazar and Gomez made false statements in official reports about what had happened on the night of Dec. 9 and incorrectly claimed that Salazar was under attack when Calvario was shot. The lawsuit further alleges that CPD failed to discipline the officers and that their actions stemmed from the department’s de facto policies, practices and customs.
Plaintiffs include Calvario’s mother, individually and on behalf of her son’s estate, and Sofia Salazar, who is identified in the litigation as Calvario’s girlfriend.
“The responsibility for this young man’s death starts with the officer who tried to pull him out of a car and then shot him in the head, but it doesn’t end with him,” one of the family’s attorneys David Owens said in a statement, adding, “This city’s entire approach to law enforcement killed Roberto, and that’s what needs to change.”
Chicago police stated they do not comment on pending litigation but confirmed that Gomez and Salazar remain on active duty.
