New Ulm settles accident case for $570,000 [The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.]
By Mark Fischenich, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Two years later, however, the insurer for the officer and the
"Defendant Rasmussen caused the crash that killed
At the time of the settlement, finalized in late May, a lawyer representing the city and Rasmussen was laying the groundwork for a defense based on the assertion that the accident was largely or completely Meyer's fault, and the settlement includes no admission of wrong-doing.
"Defendants deny they were guilty of any carelessness or negligence which caused the death of
Attorney
"The plain fact of the matter is they are not making this payment other than they admit (they're at fault)," Riley said.
"Once the lawsuit was struck up, the
Riley said the investigation by his firm showed that Rasmussen has been disciplined by the city, but Wieland declined to comment on any disciplinary action related to the crash. City officials did not respond Friday afternoon to requests from
Rasmussen remains listed as a patrol officer on the
A lengthy crash investigation by the
Along with interviewing Rasmussen and several witnesses, Patrol investigators retrieved data from the Ford squad car's powertrain control module and airbag control module and video from the car's on-board camera. (See the video at www.mankatofreepress.com).
The alleged speeder was already far down
After clearing the minivan, Rasmussen accelerated rapidly and both the throttle and the accelerator were at 100 percent in the 10 seconds before the crash, according to the Patrol investigator. The same investigator concluded that Rasmussen, who said he had been looking down at his radar reading, was still accelerating one second before the crash and didn't recognize that Meyer's turning vehicle was a danger until eight-tenths of one second before the collision.
At that point, his foot came off the accelerator. The brake was first depressed four-tenths of a second before the crash.
Rasmussen told investigators he left the emergency lights on throughout the pursuit -- that they went off only after power was disrupted by the collision.
The squad video camera, which shows 29 seconds of footage before the collision, continued to operate after the crash, as did the car's radio. The video shows no indication that the emergency lights were on, and several witnesses along
The video shows Meyer's car making the turn and a violent impact immediately following, but the quality of the video and the extremely brief period that the Mercury is in the camera's view makes it impossible to tell if the left-turn signal was activated.
Riley said he has no doubt a jury would have determined that the officer was at fault rather than accepting the city's contention that Meyer was to blame.
"They contended that she should have seen the police car flying at her at 70 mph with no lights or siren on," Riley said.
Preliminary documents filed by Regnier, the attorney representing the city and Rasmussen, also indicated they would suggest that Meyer's death resulted from causes other than the crash. While Wichmann was dead at the scene, the elderly Meyer didn't die until
"Defendants admit that the injuries sustained by
The city's decision to settle the case for
"It's not anywhere near within protocol to drive the way he did -- 70 mph on a residential street without your lights on," said Riley, a partner with the
Drivers, like Meyer, have a right under the law to assume that other drivers are operating their vehicles in a lawful manner, he said. Meyer would have reasonably judged that the squad car was well beyond the distance where an on-coming vehicle would pose any danger to her planned left turn into the
"That (squad) car is traveling at over 100 feet per second. That's a football field every three seconds," Riley said. "... To look that far down the road (before making a left turn) would not make sense."
"I don't believe justice has been served,"
Wichmann -- who doesn't hide his animosity toward
"They tried to blame my mom, 'It's an 82-year-old woman and a retarded guy, why ruin the career of an officer?'" Wichmann said. "Why? Because he was wrong."
The Patrol investigation file was forwarded for potential criminal charges against Rasmussen in the fall of 2011, but none were ever filed.
Collins, rather than making a decision himself on whether Rasmussen's actions were criminal, chose in
The process is also closed to the public, and no information is available about the evidence presented to the 24 members of the the grand jury.
___
(c)2013 The Free Press (Mankato, Minn.)
Visit The Free Press (Mankato, Minn.) at www.mankatofreepress.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Wordcount: | 1621 |
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News