Parties: Plaintiff: L.R.; Defendant: St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners, et al
Jurisdiction: St. Louis City, Missouri
Amount of Verdict: $500,000
Medical: $39,000;

W. Morris Taylor (St. Louis) for Plaintiff. Plaintiff, L.R., 51, was injured while a passenger in an automobile which collided with a St. Louis City police car. The police car was chasing a carjacker and ran a stop sign at the intersection of Parnell and North Market Street in the City of St. Louis.

One officer in the police car, and other officers at the scene, testified that the lights were on and the siren working. Neither Plaintiff nor the driver of the car in which she was a passenger saw any flashing lights or heard any siren. Plaintiff alleged that the police were negligent by violating their own department policies in chasing a stolen vehicle after they had lost sight of it. It was also alleged that the police, even if operating with emergency lights and siren, were careless in the means and manner in which they entered the intersection, knowing that cross traffic was not subject to traffic signals and that it was a significant thoroughfare.

Plaintiff suffered a tear to the rotator cuff of her right shoulder and a fractured ankle. In addition to medical expense, she lost wages. After a five day jury trial, the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of Plaintiff after deliberating for only twenty minutes.