Aurora Committee Eyes Purchase To Replace Burned Police Car

AURORA, IL — Aurora City Council members recently recommended spending more than $37,000 to replace a police vehicle that was burned and destroyed amid clashes between police and protesters May 31 in downtown Aurora. The council's finance committed on Thursday unanimously approved the recommendation buy a 2020 Ford police vehicle from Currie Motors in Frankfort.

Two police vehicles, one from Aurora and one from Elgin, were destroyed after peaceful protests gave way to looting and violence, with police firing tear gas at protesters throwing bottles.

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Vianney Huerta, 19, of Montgomery, was charged June 5 with arson and criminal damage after prosecutors alleged she set fire to an Elgin police SUV in a parking lot on East New York Street.

Derrick Winston, an official with Aurora's Fleet and Facilities Maintenance department, told the committee members the city would use the Suburban Purchasing Cooperative to buy the new police vehicle.

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The Elgin Police Department was one of many agencies throughout the region called in by local and county officials amid the May 31 protest. The city of Elgin will use its own insurance to replace its totaled SUV, according to Martin Lyons, Aurora's chief financial officer.

Under mutual-aid agreements, each police department remains covered by their insurance, Lyons said.

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"If we were up there and it happened, we'd be covering our own (replacement)," Lyons told the committee.

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"It's the give-and-take of mutual aid, you know, you've gotta take the bitter with the sweet," Aurora’s chief management officer Alex Alexandrou added. "Otherwise, if everybody was responsible for everybody else's (damage), you'd have very few volunteers."

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Alexandrou said the city will seek restitution from anyone who is convicted of destroying the Aurora police vehicle, in response to a question from Alderman Edward Bugg, of the city's 9th ward.

"We will attempt to, yes," Alexandrou said. "If the individual has any recoverable assets, we will definitely do it."