Defense: Savannah Officer, Department Responsible for Officer’s Death
SAVANNAH, GA. – July 17, 2018 (wsav.com) The defense has answered a lawsuit brought by the wife of a Georgia police officer killed in a tractor-trailer collision, according to an online news report from wsav.com.
On May 25, 2018, Savannah Police Department Officer Anthony Christie was responding to a head-on vehicle collision on Interstate 16 near Dean Forest Road. Christie was helping with traffic control, sitting in his lighted patrol vehicle on the interstate. At approximately 3:30 a.m., a tractor-trailer crashed into the passenger’s side of Christie’s vehicle. The driver of the tractor-trailer, Charles Livingston, allegedly did not apply his brakes or try to avoid the crash. Christie’s vehicle spun and traveled to another part of the roadway. Christie was trapped in the vehicle and died at the scene.
In July, Christie’s wife, Jarnique Nicole Weldon, filed suit in Chatham County Court against Livingston, Howard Sheppard Bulk, LLC (the trucking company), and Great West Casualty Company (the trucking company’s insurance carrier). The suit alleges negligence, willful misconduct, and conscious indifference and seeks compensation for the physical and mental pain and suffering experienced by Christie before his death. Weldon also seeks punitive damages. The lawsuit does not include a specific amount of damages sought.
The defendants have now filed an answer to the lawsuit that states Christie and the Savannah Police Department were negligent on the day of the accident, and that their negligence caused Christie’s death. The pleading says Christie’s patrol vehicle was not properly lighted and not visible to Livingston or other motorists. Either Christie did not follow protocol, or he was not trained as to the proper protocol for an accident, the pleading claims, and those failures led to his death.
The Court case is pending in Chatham County. It is not clear whether a trial date or schedule has been set at this time.
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