Chicago aldermen gave a preliminary nod today to three settlements involving police misconduct that total $4.75 million.

The settlements the Chicago City Council’s finance committee approved by voice vote included a lawsuit in which a Chicago firefighter was beaten and intimidated by a group of Chicago police officers in 2002.

The settlements now need to be approved by a majority of the full council; its next meeting is set for Wednesday at 10 a.m.

First Assistant Corporation Counsel Jane E. Notz testified before the committee that the city would likely be found liable in each of the three lawsuits should they proceed to trial, and those losses would be much costlier than the costs to settle.

With each lawsuit, Notz described how the narratives the officers would present would not gel with certain facts and evidence, or how the officers themselves would not be credible witnesses. Additionally, the plaintiffs would present sympathetic stories to juries.

For instance, Chicago police officers never recovered a gun after two officers shot and killed Esau Castellanos following a high-speed police chase in March 2013.

According to police, after crashing his car, Castellanos fired his gun at the two officers, one of whom said he was allegedly hit. But Notz said the only bullets collected at the scene were fired by the officers.

Notz said Castellanos’ estate, who filed a lawsuit against the city and Officers Shawn Lawryn and Juan Martinez in federal court, will argue that the noise the officers heard was not a gunshot, but a tire being popped.

The Castellanos’ estate asked for $32 million in damages in its lawsuit, an amount that Notz predicted a jury could surpass. The city is slated to settle the suit for $3.75 million.

12th Ward Ald. George Cardenas expressed frustration during the committee meeting, saying, “I don’t know what to believe anymore. I don’t know what to say anymore; I question right away why there wasn’t more impetus to … avoid all of this.”

Notz said the Independent Police Review Authority, the city agency responsible for investigating instances of excessive force by police, is set to wrap up its investigation into Castellanos’ death this month.

She added that both the FBI and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office are investigating it as well.

With respect to the lawsuit filed by firefighter Robert Cook, Notz said it would be “difficult to defend,” even though there is no documented evidence that Cook was injured by four police officers who he alleges stormed into his house, conducted an illegal search and beat him in front of his family.

One of the officers named in the lawsuit is Jerome Finnigan, a member of the department’s now-defunct special operations section (SOS) who was criminally charged previously for conducting illegal home invasions.

He is currently serving 12 years in prison for planning the murder of a SOS officer whom he believed was cooperating with the government’s investigation. He pleaded guilty to the murder-for-hire plan and other tax charges.

Notz said Finnigan is willing to testify in Cook’s lawsuit, but “his credibility is impeached by the fact that he is serving a 12-year sentence in a murder-for-hire scheme.”

Two officers involved in the alleged home invasion have declined to testify, and the jury would be able to draw an adverse inference from that, she added.

Notz said the damages Cook could win would easily exceed $1 million; the city is slated to settle his lawsuit for $550,000.

Notz noted this is the last of “25 to 35” lawsuits pending against the city involving Finnigan. She said the city has paid out $1,385,000 to settle cases involving him specifically.

She added that IPRA is set to re-open and investigate the circumstances of this lawsuit.

Despite being approved by a voice vote, two aldermen — Patrick D. Thompson of the 11th Ward and Nicholas Sposato of the 38th Ward — voted against settling the lawsuit filed by Gentila Mitchell.

Mitchell’s children, Gelona and Alonzo Jenkins, were hit by a car which Chicago police officers were pursuing near the intersection of South Stony Island Avenue and East Marquette Road in March 2010.

The officers said they were only following a stolen car that had violated committed a number of traffic violations when the accident occurred. The lawsuit filed by Mitchell alleges the officers were reckless for engaging in a high-speed chase over relatively minor violations.

Notz said the plaintiffs would be able to argue that the GPS signal in the officers’ car at one point registered them driving at 99 mph; eyewitness reports also place the officers much closer to the car than the “half mile” distance they said they were trailing.

The children suffered severe injuries as a result of the incident. Their mother sought $825,000 to pay for their medical bills; the city is slated to settle at $425,000.

Thompson gave no indication why he voted against the settlement, but Sposato in his own comments described the situation as a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” for Chicago police.

If they hadn’t pursued the four suspects in the stolen car, the officers would have been blamed for letting them go, he said.

The cases are Michelle Castellos v. Shawn Lawryn, et al., 14 C 1841; Robert Cook, et al., v. City of Chicago, et al., 06 C 5930; and Gentila Mitchell, et al. v. City of Chicago, et al., 11 L 3081.