Tufts Carter v. Hymes

Citations

• 2020 Ohio 3967

Syllabus

Summary judgment police officer immunity R.C. 2744.03(A)(6)(b) vehicle pursuit. A driver was killed when his vehicle collided in an intersection with a speeding vehicle running a red light. The administrator of his estate filed an action against two police officers whose zone car was closely following the speeding vehicle to obtain its license plate information. The trial court properly denied summary judgment predicated on immunity regarding the officer who operated the zone car because there was a jury question as to whether the driver's failure to activate the emergency lights and siren was reckless. However, the trial court improperly denied summary judgment regarding the passenger officer, whose responsibility was to operate the zone car's computer data unit and to communicate with dispatch, because his conduct as a passenger of the zone car did not rise to the level of reckless conduct.