FRANKFORT, Ky. (Legal Newsline) – A police officer who chased a suspect through downtown Louisville can’t be held liable for the carnage that resulted: The death of a girl on her 12th birthday.
That was the finding of the Kentucky Supreme Court on Aug. 26 in a lawsuit against Louisville Metro police officer Thomas Pugh, who trailed the suspect’s car when it collided with another vehicle in which Demetra Boyd was a passenger. She was ejected from the car, as she was not wearing her seatbelt, and died on Jan. 6, 2007.
Her family sued several parties, including Pugh. But the decision to chase a fleeing suspect was ministerial and not discretionary, a distinction that entitles Pugh to qualified official immunity from liability.
“(I)t is not in the public’s interest to allow a jury of laymen with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight to second-guess the exercise of a police officer’s discretionary professional duty. Such discretion is no discretion at all,” Justice Christopher Nickell wrote.
“There is considerable discretion inherent in law enforcement’s response to an infinite array of situations implicating public safety on a daily basis.”
Nickell expressed frustration that Pugh and the Louisville Metro PD have had to fight the case for 14 years. A trial court ruling in Jefferson Circuit Court originally found Pugh was not entitled to immunity, but both state appeals courts have now disagreed.
Pugh was speaking with the victim of an assault and purse snatching in downtown Louisville when Donta Jones drove by. The victim told Pugh that he was the man who assaulted her.
The victim was frantic and said she felt lucky to be alive. Pugh decided to pursue Jones and pulled him over, but Jones sped away when Pugh got out of his patrol car.
Pugh jumped back in and resumed the chase. He activated his siren and turned on his emergency lights, but less than two minutes into the chase, Jones ran a red light and struck Demitrick Boyd’s car.
Seven minors were in the vehicle. Six sustained injuries and survived, but Demetra Boyd died.
The lawsuit blamed Pugh and the Louisville PD for chasing a suspect through the city. The department’s own investigation cleared Pugh of any negligence and determined protocol allowed him to chase a known violent felon.
“While the delays in this particular case cannot be attributed to a single source, it is clear Metro and Officer Pugh have shouldered the burden of this suit far longer than either should have in light of their entitlement to immunity,” Nickell wrote.