OPEN RECORDS: Suit pits motorist against insurer, R.I. over redacted crash report

March 27-- Mar. 27--PROVIDENCE -- A New York City man is suing the City of Pawtucket over its refusal to provide him with the complete accident report on his October collision with a vehicle he alleges lacked liability insurance.

Horace Overstreet, who spends weekends and holidays in Rhode Island co-parenting his son, last week sued the city, Attorney General Peter Neronha's office, and his insurer Geico Indemnity Co., alleging that without the complete report he is being denied coverage for his injuries and damage to his car.

According to court records, Overstreet's 2014 Toyota Prius collided on Oct. 12 with a 2005 Dodge Durango driven by Brandon Reyes at Power and Prentice roads. The collision, Overstreet says, was caused "solely" by the negligence of Reyes, who was driving the uninsured Durango.

Overstreet has since suffered back and neck pain for which he continues to receive treatment, his lawyer, Edward C. Roy Jr., said. A police report indicates that Overstreet didn't seek treatment at the scene, but that his Prius received disabling damage.

At the time, Overstreet says he maintained automobile insurance through Geico that provided uninsured and under-insured motorists bodily injury coverage.

Overstreet demanded, through his lawyer, that Geico provide him coverage for the injuries and property damage he sustained in the crash, but Geico has denied his claim and refused to arbitrate the matter, the suit says.

Geico is basing its refusal on the company's assertion that it needs an "unredacted" accident report from the city, allowing it to confirm that the driver of the Durango and that car's owner did not carry liability insurance, the suit says.

Roy, Overstreet's lawyer, wrote that he has verbally and in person asked the city for the complete report, but has been denied access through solicitor Frank J. Milos based on a 2005 opinion by the attorney general's office.

That opinion determined in a case involving the Coventry police that accident reports contain information that if disclosed would be an "unwarranted invasion of personal privacy." The office concluded that details such as the home address; the date of birth; the insurance policy numbers of the people involved; and phone numbers should be redacted, or blacked out, in their entirety.

The "uniform crash report" Overstreet received has his information as well as that of Reyes and the car's owner, Ashley Severino, blacked out. Court records indicate that the Pawtucket police charged Severino, 25, with owning a vehicle without evidence of insurance and that she never responded to the charge at the state Traffic Tribunal and as such was convicted.

"In balancing the interests of the plaintiff to obtain compensation for his significant personal injuries and medical expenses against the privacy interests of the uninsured motor vehicle that caused the accident that injured the plaintiff, the plaintiff believes that public policy weighs heavily in favor of the release of the unredacted report," Roy wrote.

He is asking a judge to order Geico to arbitrate the matter and to review the contested report to determine if it should be disclosed.

Pawtucket has been the subject of recent open records complaints lodged by Rhode Islanders seeking access to the Police Department's internal investigative reports.

Just last week, Superior Court Judge Melissa Long ruled a Providence man was not entitled to immediate access to some 57 internal-affairs reports without additional court arguments over whether they are public records. Long said she might be inclined to impose a "balancing test" to weigh the public's interest in the documents against any potential privacy concerns of the officers involved.

Milos did not immediately return a phone call placed to City Hall seeking comment Tuesday, but he recently told The Providence Journal, "I do rely on the attorney general's office and the opinions they render, and I do cite them frequently because, let's face it, their decision means more than mine does" if someone appeals his denial of records.

But Milos said he also worries about prompting a lawsuit against the city if he releases a report that violates a municipal employee's privacy.

"I have to be worried. I may be the APRA [Access to Public Records Act] guy, but I'm also the city's attorney. I have to balance everything. I have to be forward-thinking. I have to look ahead to what tomorrow's lawsuit is that maybe could have been avoided if I just maybe had taken a step back and thought it through a little bit better before I released the document. Once I release it, it's out there."

A spokesman for Geico could not be reached immediately. A spokeswoman for Neronha said the attorney general's office could not comment on pending litigation.

READ MORE:

Access Denied- Government Secrecy in Rhode Island

The Hummel Report: Principle or personal? Costs soar in R.I. public-records battle

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