Village will pay claim for officer’s Indiana fender bender

A Grafton police officer who was driving to a training course in Indiana scraped bumpers with another car in a parking lot, causing the village to pay $2,531 in damages.

Officer Eric Sutherland was attempting to leave his parking spot at a rest stop in Indiana by pulling through his space into the empty spot in front of his vehicle.

When turning out of the spot, Sutherland side-swiped the adjacent vehicle — a 2020 BMW X7 — according to the accident report.

No injuries were caused by the accident. But the BMW, owned by Julia Doyle of Chicago, was scraped and dented.

Sutherland’s vehicle, a 2022 Chevrolet Silverado owned by the Village of Grafton, had its rear driver side wheel well damaged.

Director of Administrative Services Paul Styduhar said no repairs are needed for the village-owned vehicle.

Sutherland, according to the report, took full responsibility for the crash.

Because the village changed its liability insurance earlier this year to Cities and Villages Municipal Insurance Co., all claims exceeding $2,500 must be reviewed by the Village Board.

Additionally, the policy with CVMIC has a self-insured retention amount of $25,000, meaning the first $25,000 in claims is the responsibility of the village.

The Village Board approved the payment unanimously on Sept. 4.