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Posted on 08/08/2005 1:35:01 AM PDT by freepatriot32
OLYMPIA – Three years after getting drunk, blowing through a stop sign and triggering a wreck that left her passenger critically injured, a former Idaho resident has filed a $1.5 million claim against Washington's Pend Oreille County for not detaining her before she caused the crash.
In her claim, Ashlen Lee says that on June 12, 2002, a county sheriff's deputy stopped her truck around 3:30 a.m. and could see that she had been drinking. But after quizzing her, the deputy let the 17-year-old drive away.
The officer said he'd give them a warning," said Lee's attorney, W. Russell Van Camp of Spokane. He said neither young woman was wearing a seat belt.
"Good Lord almighty," the attorney said. "Some kids in a pickup, drinking, and he knew they were drinking? At that hour in the morning? That's reckless endangerment of the public."
Less than an hour after talking with the deputy, Lee blew through a stop sign on Fourth Street, in Oldtown, Idaho. As she crossed Idaho's State Route 41, her Isuzu pickup was struck by a Ford pickup driven by 55-year-old Ronald Barton of Athol. The Isuzu crashed in a ditch.
Lee's passenger, 18-year-old Shaleena Threlkeld, was rushed in critical condition to Spokane's Sacred Heart Medical Center. Lee was also taken to the hospital, where she was treated and released. According to the Idaho State Police report, her blood-alcohol content was .11, well over the .08 level that's considered drunken driving.
Lee is now seeking $1.5 million from the county for "pain, suffering, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, medical expenses and wage loss," according to the claim. Van Camp said that Lee has permanent scarring on her face, as well as neck and back injuries.
"Horrendous injuries," Van Camp said.
While acknowledging that the deputy should have stopped Lee from driving, Pend Oreille County Sheriff Jerry Weeks called the suit, "part of the American blame game. People don't want to accept responsibility for their actions, but hey, these guys (the county) have money, so let's go after them and blame them.
"We didn't give her the booze. Her parents gave her the car," he said. "When does the blame stop?"
Van Camp said the deputy showed "egregious and unfortunate negligence."
He acknowledged, though, that Lee had been drinking in the truck, and that she caused the accident.
"So she deserved what she got? No, no, no," he said. "We have the police to protect all of us, even young children who are making stupid mistakes. If she was running down the middle of the street, he should have stopped her. The police officer has the duty to protect the public, even from themselves."
Efforts to contact Lee, who now lives in Puyallup, Wash., were unsuccessful.
Weeks confirmed that a deputy had, in fact, stopped Lee's vehicle, spoken with her, and let her drive off.
The case started with a complaint about a noisy party at a local house, he said. A dispatcher woke up the deputy at home and sent him to check on the disturbance.
Among the partiers, the deputy found a youth with an outstanding arrest warrant. He took the boy into custody, but when placed in the back of the police car, the boy started kicking out the windows.
Around the same time, the deputy talked to Lee and Threlkeld.
"It's not disputed that they had been drinking. He was aware of it," said Weeks, who would not name the deputy. "I'm not going to make any excuses for him. But there were some mitigating circumstances."
The deputy – who still works for the department – should have detained Lee and Threlkeld as well, and called their parents, Weeks said. In fact, deputies had been trained on minor-in-possession situations just a few weeks before, he said.
The deputy was disciplined, he said, although he wouldn't elaborate. Also, he said, "this deputy's had to live with that personal consequence (the crash) ever since."
Weeks said that the county has already paid a related claim made by Threlkeld, although he wouldn't say how much was paid. Van Camp said the amount paid out was more than $1 million.
Threlkeld could not be reached for comment.
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
Hmmm, any guesses as to what the "W" stands for?
Very quizzical that either one would get a red cent from the county unless it was to head off an even more expensive to defend court battle. The Screams have already said that we cannot expect zip from the kopz.
Congressman Billybob
W. Russell Van Camp of Spokane should be removed from the Bar or shot or both. He is definitely in the running for the ACLU lawyer of the year
Totally believable from Washington State!....Home of the giant statue of Lenin in Fremont!.....
Whiplash?
A Lenin statue? Oh, Wow! Something to blow up! :-)
well... considering that some states hold bars responsible for the same kind of thing, she might be able to pull this suit off.
I think they should post a deputy at her home 100% of the time to bird-dog her 24/7 to ensure she doesn't get into any more trouble. If shes buys french fries, he needs to know them out of her hand; if she lights up a smoke, he needs to slap it out of her mouth, if she tries to have unprotected sex, he needs to run the guy off at gunpoint. Eventually, she might discover the magnitude of what she is claiming the police should do for her.
Somebody tried a suit like this in GA years ago - was slapped down with derision by the court of appeals.
IANAL but I don't think the cops are legally obliged to act in any specific situation.
I believe there is also an issue of legal liability for the owner of the house, but you don't read about that, either. Why not sue them? Why not sue this girl's parents, since she was a minor and they're responsible for her? Oh, that's right, just sue the police. What a disgrace. This girl ought to be grateful that no one was killed.
This is great, America. Just keep forcing the nanny state to protect us from ourselves. How long until we have to ask Washington permission to take a day off from work or to go to the restroom?
Maybe we should start suing people like Miss Lee for eroding our rights, wasting taxpayer money, and for damages done to society because she is just plain stupid.
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