This week in U.S. District Court in Chicago, an imprisoned cocaine dealer from Chicago settled a lawsuit arising from a police chase that began in Ottawa almost three years ago.

Letitio M. Oliver, now 29, drove a van and led police on a chase Jan. 6, 2007, from Christie Street in Ottawa through Marseilles and north onto Interstate 80, ending near Minooka. Three Ottawa women were in the van during the chase and several police agencies joined the pursuit.

On Oct. 15, 2007, Oliver, through his Chicago attorney, Michael J. Small, filed suit, claiming after he was stopped and subdued a Grundy County deputy sheriff ordered his dog to attack him. The dog tore Oliver's right calf. Oliver claimed a state trooper then ordered his dog to bite Oliver's left leg, which the dog did. Police denied the accusations.

The suit was terminated Tuesday after a settlement was reached between Oliver and Grundy County, state police and members of the Illinois Department of Corrections Apprehensions Unit.

The Department of Corrections Unit was named in the suit because it took part in the chase, having been on the lookout that day for some of the women who were with Oliver in the van.

Small said Friday the terms of the settlement are confidential.

For the chase, Oliver went to prison for about one year for aggravated fleeing of police. After his release, he went back to prison, where he remains, for cocaine dealing in DuPage County.