A lawsuit has been filed over a Cary police pursuit that resulted in a crash that permanently injured a driver in Crystal Lake.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in McHenry County court, claims willful and wanton conduct against the village of Cary for the police pursuit on July 8, 2025, that started in the village and led to a crash at the intersection of Route 31 and Three Oaks Road in Crystal Lake.
The driver who filed the lawsuit, Munividyasgar Mokkala, cited “personal injuries” in the crash “which have resulted in both past and future damages, including but not limited to medical expenses, lost wages and earning potential, loss of normal life, disability, disfigurement and pain and suffering,” according to the complaint. Mokkala is seeking over $50,000 in damages.
At the time of the crash, authorities reported that a Cary officer activated his overhead lights to initiate a traffic stop for a vehicle without taillights. The officer followed the driver, whom authorities identified as Deondrae L. Clements, 36, of Elgin, into a Jewel-Osco parking on Route 14. Clements appeared to be stopping when he turned and looked at the officer, but “then took off,” according to a criminal complaint against Clements.
That is when a pursuit started on Three Oaks Road that involved speeds at over 40 mph above the posted 35 mph speed limit, according to the criminal complaint against Clements in connect to the pursuit.
The officer retreated from the chase due to the high rate of speed, but Clements continued driving, according to a news release at the time from the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Clements disregarded a red light at Route 31 while heading west on Three Oaks Road and Route 31, crashing into two sedans traveling south on Route 31 and an SUV traveling east on Three Oaks Road that he hit head-on, police and the state’s attorney said.
Mokkala is also suing Clements for negligence, as well as the village of Cary.
An attorney representing Mokkala, John Gorey, said in the civil lawsuit that police “knew or should have known” that Clements “had no intent to stop his motor vehicle and would continue to flee from the police at a high rate of speed.”
Gorey said in the complaint that police “engaged in a pursuit of a fleeing vehicle when the risk of injury or death to the general public exceeded the benefit of apprehending the suspects” and “failed to timely terminate the vehicle pursuit in compliance with the balancing test which did not authorize a pursuit.”
Representatives for Mokkala and the village of Cary declined comment.
On the criminal side, Clements is facing charges of leaving the scene of a crash with injury, a Class 2 felony; aggravated reckless driving causing great bodily harm, a Class 4 felony; aggravated fleeing and eluding a police officer exceeding 21 mph over the speed limit, a Class 4 felony; a misdemeanor charge of driving while license suspended; and a petty traffic offense, according to the indictment.
According to the indictment, Mokkala’s hand was “permanently disfigured.”
Clements is currently being held in jail after being denied pretrial release by Judge Cynthia Lamb.
The driver of an SUV involved in the crash Clements caused suffered serious injuries that were not life-threatening and was taken by ambulance then flown to a hospital, authorities said at the time.
Lamb said Clements caused one person a “permanent disability, a disfigurement” in that they lost four fingers on their left hand.
People in two sedans traveling on Route 31 that were also involved in the crash suffered minor injuries and were treated at local hospitals.
According to Illinois police pursuit guidelines, officers should terminate chases when “the danger to the public or the pursuing peace officer outweighs the necessity for immediate apprehension of the suspect.” Officers should consider speed, area, weather, road conditions, pedestrians and other traffic, if there are audible or visible warnings and the reason for the pursuit.