High-speed chase turned traffic accident prompts lawsuit against Blount County Sheriff's Office
From Staff ReportsOriginally published: October 30. 2009 3:01AM
Last modified: October 29. 2009 11:49PM
It started with a burned-out tail-light, turned into a high-speed chase and ended in a wreck that David S. McNish and Brandy A. Breeden say shouldn't have happened, according to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday.
In the suit, McNish and Breeden are seeking damages from Joseph Edward Robinson (who was allegedly driving the fleeing vehicle); Julia Adams (who owned the car); Blount County; and the Blount County Sheriff's Office.
It started with Robinson driving on Alcoa Highway with a non-working tail-light on Oct. 28, 2008, and when a Sheriff's deputy attempted to pull him over, a high-speed chase ensued, the suit said. The plaintiffs claim the deputy "engaged in a high-speed pursuit and failed to use reasonable care to disengage the pursuit at a time when he was putting members of the public at risk of injury, including plaintiff's, along a busy section of Alcoa Highway near the airport," the suit said.
McNish was driving the car that Robinson allegedly ran into, and he suffered injuries that included "head trauma and injuries to his right knee" -- his medical expenses exceeded $15,000 due to the accident, the lawsuit said.
Breeden was also in the car and "suffered painful injuries to her left leg, ankle and foot," the suit said. Her medical expenses were listed at about $250.
McNish and Breeden are seeking damages totaling $125,000.
A response to the lawsuit on behalf of the defendants had not been filed as of Thursday.
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