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Crime & Safety

On the Web: West Chicago Officer Sued After Fermi Shooting

The investigation into the shooting of a teenager by a West Chicago police officer continues, but a lawsuit already has been filed on behalf of the teen who was shot and five other occupants of the car, the Daily Herald and Chicago Tribune report.

The criminal investigation is still pending, but a federal lawsuit sheds a small amount of light on the bizarre events of Feb. 18, when a West Chicago .

According to stories in the Daily Herald and Chicago Tribune, an unidentified West Chicago police officer sideswiped a vehicle containing six people and shot one of the backseat passengers, 17-year-old Juan Carlos Ruiz of Cicero, in the back.

The suit is being filed by Ruiz, as well as the driver of the car, 17-year-old Dora Diaz, and the four other occupants of the car. All six occupants are from Cicero and range in age from 17 to their mid-20s.

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The shooter was initially described by the DuPage County Sheriff's Office as an off-duty police officer. that the incident was initiated when the officer witnessed a hit-and-run accident and followed the car to Fermilab property.

The suit alleges that the officer side-swiped the car driven by Diaz.

Find out what's happening in Genevawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Ruiz was treated at Delnor Hospital, where he had been in critical condition. He was later released, according to the lawsuit, which is filed against the city of West Chicago and an unnamed police officer.

According to the Tribune report, Richard Dvorak, the attorney for the six young people, said the officer "was obviously involved in some sort of road rage" when he shot at the trunk of the car and hit Ruiz.

The Daily Herald said the defense attorney is Berwyn-based Fred Acosta. "My clients want justice. They have a right to know who did this to them," Acosta told the Daily Herald's Josh Stockinger.

The suit says the friends were coming home from a party, driving on Route 59, when the officer's black Jeep sideswiped their green Honda.

The officer chased the Honda to the Fermilab grounds, exited his Jeep and shot at the car—apparently multiple times, because the Tribune reports says "one of the bullets" went through the trunk and struck Ruiz.

No charges have yet been filed, according to the Tribune report, which was posted as breaking news at about 7:54 p.m. Tuesday.

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