Woman Hit by Driver in Jacksonville Police Chase Will File Suit
The Shands Hospital nurse, who was hit by a suspect eluding police, is talking to the media about who may be at fault for her debilitating injuries.It turns out that the suspect who hit her in a crosswalk was being chased by two police officers, who, instead of rendering aid to the nurse, passed by her and continued on their chase. And the Jacksonville Sheriff’s officers did not have on light and sirens that would have alerted her to get out of the crosswalk.
The pedestrian accident in Jacksonville happened last June. Seven months later, the woman has been through ten surgeries. She still uses a walker and is likely she will not be able to return to her former job because of her inability to move, reports First Coast News.
The man who hit her has ready been sentenced to seven years in prison. He apologized to the nurse but claims he didn’t see her in the crosswalk because he was busy watching the police in his rearview mirror. The reason he was being chased – he ran a stop sign in the neighborhood- raising all sorts of questions about the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office chase policy.
We wish a continued recovery for the woman who was injured, perhaps permanently, through no fault of her own.
JSO Chase Policy
The nurse has announced that she is planning to file a lawsuit against JSO for their reckless conduct. Her lawyer has filed notice of claim with the city of Jacksonville. One of the two patrol cars should have stayed with the victim instead of continuing to case a suspect for running a stop sign. It’s called rendering aid and is the number one duty of the office besides protecting the public. JSO failed on both counts.
Fortunately for her case, there is surveillance video that leaves little to the imagination. It shows the nurse being thrown into the road. Then five seconds later, one JSO vehicle cruises past followed by the second car. They did not even slow down to help her, but one of the officers did send a radio transmission into dispatch calling units to Shands.
“There is someone that has just been fun over by a blue Hyundai sedan I’m trying to get caught up [to it] now,” said the officer.
The nurse wants something other than money – a clarification of the JSO police chase policy. Sheriff John Rutherford is calling for an internal investigation of the incident. Ultimately, the investigation will help clarify what exactly is the JSO pursuit policy, and then whether the officers followed it.
Orlando Police Pursuit Policy
The citizen advocacy, Voices Insisting on Pursuit Safety, reports that forty percent (40%) of all police car chases end in a collision and 20% of those cases end in serious injury. On average in the U.S., police chases kill at least three innocent bystanders each week.
The group and website PursuitWatch.org, was formed after John Phillips’ sister was killed in 2001 in Orlando by a suspect engaged in a police chase. The group supports a common sense policy of pursuits only in cases where violent criminals are involved and is responsible in part for changing the high--speed or “hot” pursuit policy in the Orlando area.
Orlando officers will not give up a chase because of a traffic violation, nor will they in St. Johns County. Duval and Nassau County leave the decision up to the officer. What will it take before Duval imposes a common sense policy that follows the mandate of law enforcement – safety first?
Source article: http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=150793&provider=rss
