URBANA — While an internal University of Illinois investigation announced its finding last month that the Jan. 20 death of a student on campus was an accident, the deceased’s family is considering suing the school on claims university police could have prevented the death.
Akul Dhawan, 18, was found dead around 11 a.m. that Saturday on a set of concrete steps behind a building in the 1200 block of West Nevada Street in Urbana.
He was reported missing to police earlier at 1:23 a.m. from a residence hall about 400 feet away from where he was found.
Mr. Dhawan’s cause of death was hypothermia with acute alcohol intoxication being a contributing factor, the Champaign County coroner later ruled.
Temperatures were near minus-15 with windchill, and a liquor store illegally sold Mr. Dhawan alcohol that night.
The University of Illinois Police Department stated on April 18 it had closed its investigation into the incident and placed the UIPD officer who handled the initial call on paid administrative leave “pending completion of the post-administrative investigation procedures” for violating two department policies related to investigating a missing person report.
In response, Ish Dhawan, Mr. Dhawan’s father, said he is “crushed that the university is continuously being so insensitive” and described the paid leave as a “slap on the wrist.”
Ish added that he is reviewing the university’s final report of its internal investigation and there is a “very high likelihood” his family will bring a civil lawsuit against the school, on allegations that the responding UIPD officer negligently searched for Mr. Dhawan.
UIPD Chief Matt Ballinger said “we do not believe these policy violations related to the process and documentation altered the outcome of the incident” and UIPD spokesperson Pat Wade said the university does not issue comments on personnel or pending litigation matters.
Before moving forward with legal action, Ish said he is waiting to learn what disciplinary action, if any, the university decides to impose on the UIPD officer who violated the departmental policies.
In an email shared with The News-Gazette, Ballinger said university leadership is discussing disciplinary options for that officer and potential improvements to UIPID internal procedures.
Ballinger also said leadership scheduled an April 24 meeting with the officer, which is required by the police collecting bargaining agreement before the university can impose discipline.
Ish added that he is waiting to proceed with legal action until he receives more information through a Freedom of Information Act request he filed regarding the university’s Jan. 20 search efforts.
In particular, he would like to ascertain whether videos exist from surveillance cameras along West Nevada Street and South Goodwin Avenue that can prove the responding officer drove around the area and searched for his son.
While “all options are on the table” as Ish waits to receive the information he’s looking for, he said the grief he and his wife, Ritu, continue to experience remains as fresh as the day their son died.
“Every night, it’s been three months, we cry. Both my wife and I, we cry every night. We have nightmares, we get nightmares thinking about what happened to him,” Dhawan said.
“His life could have been saved.”
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