A 90 MPH Police Pursuit, a Head-On Crash, and a $5.24 Million Settlement

Shortly after 7 p.m. on a Virginia highway, a police officer tried to stop an SUV because its license plate did not match the vehicle. The officer had no other information about the SUV or its driver, and the vehicle had been traveling normally until then. When the officer moved to make the stop, the SUV sped away, and the officer gave chase.

The pursuit lasted nearly five minutes on wet pavement and in poor visibility. Both vehicles climbed past 90 miles per hour as they ran down a road lined with dozens of driveways and intersections. It ended when the SUV cut across the road and struck, head-on, the car in which the plaintiff was riding in the front passenger seat.

The plaintiff was a young woman six months pregnant with her first child, a son. The crash ruptured her uterus and broke bones throughout her body, including her vertebrae, pelvis, both femurs, ribs, and sternum. She also suffered tears to her liver and kidney, a ruptured diaphragm, a traumatic brain injury, respiratory failure, and sepsis. Doctors performed emergency surgery to remove her unborn son, who did not survive, along with her ruptured uterus. Carrying another child of her own would no longer be possible without a surrogate.

Her attorneys sued the officer for negligence, gross negligence, and willful and wanton conduct, bringing a wrongful death claim for the unborn son and a separate claim for the mother's injuries. The officer argued that Virginia Code Section 46.2-920, which gives certain protections to drivers responding to an emergency, shielded him from liability, and that running lights and a siren showed at least slight care. Plaintiff's counsel countered that the hazard the pursuit itself created could not serve as the 'emergency' used to justify continuing it, particularly when the chase began over nothing more than a mismatched plate.

The plaintiff was represented by a Marks & Harrison trial team that included David M. Erwin and William R. Sievers of Charlottesville, Roger T. Creager and Tara A. Enix of Richmond, and Mark S. Lindensmith of Staunton. The parties settled both claims at a mediation conducted by retired Justice Jane Marum Roush of The McCammon Group.

The settlement came to $5.24 million in December 2023. Because the case resolved through a negotiated agreement rather than a jury verdict, the amount was not subject to remittitur or reduction on appeal. Virginia Lawyers Weekly later listed it among the largest reported settlements in the state for 2023.