A judge has ruled that the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office should pay $9.14 million to a woman who sustained permanent brain damage from a crash with a deputy.
A judge ruled that Deputy Kenneth Petrillo was negligent in the January 2005 crash. He had been chasing a suspected drunken driver when he followed through a red light and hit Jennifer Wohlgemuth’s car. The crash sent five people to the hospital. Wohlgemuth’s attorney says the 25-year-old woman’s brain injury has left her unable to care for herself.
A sheriff’s spokesman says state law limits civil judgments against law enforcement agencies to $100,000, and the sheriff’s office has insurance to cover that. But Wohlgemuth’s attorney can file a special claim bill in the Florida Legislature to get the rest.
Topics Florida
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Viewpoint: Is it Time to Rethink the ‘Secondary-Peril’ Label and Reclassify Risk? 
Chipwich Maker Withdraws Lawsuit Against Insurance Agency 
Allstate Introduces Large Language Model, ALLIE 
Alabama Courthouse Workers Smelled a Rat. Court Must Decide if Insurer Defends Suit 
