June 10, 2006

JURY FINDS OFFICER NEGLIGENT IN CRASH
By Martin B. Cassidy
Staff Writer

A jury yesterday concluded that a Greenwich police officer's reckless driving caused a collision on Lake Avenue four years ago and awarded a town man $910,000 in damages for injuries he sustained in the crash, attorneys said.

After a four-day trial in state Superior Court in Stamford concluded, a six-person jury returned a verdict at about 4 p.m. in favor of James Peterson, 21, finding that the town and Officer Andrew Kelly were liable for a 2002 crash at the intersection of Lake and North Maple avenues, said Peterson's attorney Michael Stratton. The jury said that Kelly had broken the state's emergency response statute while responding to the accident by failing to show due regard for the safety of other motorists, according to Stratton.

"I think the primary reason was you had an overly aggressive police officer responding to an accident who lost sight of his legal requirement to use caution in the roadway," said Stratton, of the New Haven-based Stratton Faxon law firm.

Scott Harrington, of Stamford-based Diserio, Martin, O'Connor & Castiglioni, who represented the town in the suit, declined comment. He said he did not know whether the town would appeal.

On May 3, 2002, at 5:30 p.m., Peterson was turning left onto Lake Avenue from North Maple Avenue in his family's BMW 330i when Kelly's police car, with lights and sirens activated was heading up Lake Avenue. The police car hit the driver's side door area of Peterson's car.

Peterson suffered numerous pelvic fractures, a ruptured bladder and lacerated urethra, permanently impairing the function of those parts, Stratton said.

The town contended that Kelly's response to the accident fell within the reasonable standards of concern for the safety of the public.

Peterson's suit also contended that police conducted a sham investigation of the accident finding Peterson at fault in an effort to protect Kelly, a charge Harrington denied. Stratton said he was contacting the Chief State's Attorney's Office in Rocky Hill to request it review the Greenwich Police Department's policies for investigating on-duty accidents involving members of the force.

Stratton said at trial he questioned police testimony that under department policy, officers do not give statements immediately following crashes, which puts any future litigant against the officer at a disadvantage.

"They didn't even take a statement from Officer Kelly, who was involved in the crash," Stratton said. "Thankfully, the jury spoke clearly and is shining a bright light on the practices of the Greenwich Police Department."

After the accident, police cited Peterson for failure to yield the right of way to an emergency vehicle and failure to grant the right of way at a stop sign.

Peterson's suit contended that Kelly's speed was so excessive that there was no reasonable expectation that the police car's approach could have been seen.

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