Former North Shore Navigators owner Patrick A. Salvi has joined the legal team representing the family of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot multiple times in the back by Kenosha, Wis., police last month.
In a statement, Salvi’s Chicago-based law firm, Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., said it was honored to join national civil-rights attorney Ben Crump in representing the family of Blake following his Aug. 23 shooting.
“The video of this horrible shooting has since gone viral nationwide,” the statement said, referencing footage that showed Blake was shot multiple times by Kenosha police as he entered the driver’s side door of an SUV.
“Miraculously, Jacob survived the shooting. The bullets caused injury to his internal organs and spine. Jacob has a very long road to recovery and may very well have suffered permanent damage.” Three of Blake’s children, ages 3, 5, and 8, witnessed the shooting, which was captured on cellphone video and sparked a new wave of protests against racial injustice in several cities.
Last Tuesday, Blake’s father, also named Jacob Blake, told reporters his 29-year-old son was shot seven times by police “like he didn’t matter.”
Crump, the family’s lead attorney, said the shooting left Blake “paralyzed,” and that it would “take a miracle” for him to walk again.
“Jacob’s family wants very much for this tragic incident to result in positive change,” said Patrick A. Salvi II, managing partner of the firm’s Chicago office, in a statement. “The family and their representatives will fight for systemic change in policing in the hope that this will never happen again.
“They will also seek to hold accountable those responsible for Jacob’s injuries. With a lifetime of medical needs ahead, Jacob will need resources to maximize his physical recovery. Jacob and his family need to be the last to feel this way. Police training and procedures must change.”
An attorney for the Kenosha police union, Brendan Matthews, said Blake had a knife and fought with officers, putting one of them in a headlock. He said police responded to the area on a report that Blake was attempting to steal the caller’s keys and vehicle.
According to Matthews, officers knew Blake had an open warrant for a sexual assault felony before they arrived.
The incident is being investigated by the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
The Blake family’s legal team includes Ben Crump Law as lead counsel, and Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. and the LaMarr Law Firm as co-counsels.
Efforts to reach Salvi for comment were unsuccessful.
Salvi purchased the Navigators in 2012 from Tim Haley and put it under his franchise — Salvi Sports Enterprises.
He had plenty of experience in minor league baseball at the time, and he is the one who pulled the Navigators from the New England Collegiate Baseball League and got it into the Futures Collegiate Baseball League.
Salvi also appointed another minor league lifer, Bill Terlecky, to be his general manager in Lynn. That partnership lasted until last year, when Terlecky died of cancer and Salvi sold the team to Derek January, who ran it this season.
Until the sale, Salvi had intended to remain with the Navigators because he loved Fraser Field. He could be seen often at the park, baseball cap on his head, sitting in the first row on the third-base side of the field.
When he bought the Navigators, Salvi already owned two other minor league teams — Schaumburg Boomers (Frontier League) and Gary SouthShore RailCats (American Association).
Salvi received his Juris Doctor from the University of Notre Dame. For more than 30 years, he’s been the majority stockholder and managing equity partner of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., a personal-injury law firm.
He has published numerous articles in law journals, lectured at legal seminars, and taught classes at universities, including Northwestern, Harvard and Notre Dame.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
