Settlement
Reached Between Families of Deceased Officers and State of
New Jersey
When two New Jersey police officers drove off an open drawbridge
on a hazy Christmas night in 2005, plummeting 45 feet to their
death into an icy Hackensack river, one had to wonder what
went wrong.
The two officers, Shawn Carson 40, and Robert Nguyen 30,
had gone to the state operated bridge where they were helping
other police officers lay out warning flares and cones. When
they had finished they proceeded to drive back over the bridge
that they thought had been lowered. However, the safety bar
and bell that is normally used to warn motorists that the
bridge is open had been broken in a truck accident and were
consequently out of order.
The families of the two men filed negligence lawsuits against
the state of New Jersey. The families contended that the New
Jersey Department of Transportation was negligent in its failure
to have functioning warning devices on the bridge, and that
this negligence resulted in the deaths of the officers.
A spokesman for the state and a lawyer for the families
announced on Tuesday that a settlement had been reached between
the families and the state. The $2.4 million settlement was
reached in July and was reported in the New Jersey Law Journal
on Monday.
While the state admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement,
a spokesman for the state’s attorney’s office
said: “it was a fair and reasonable means of resolving
this tragic matter”.
The family of Shawn Carson received $1 million whereas the
family of Robert Nguyen received $1.4 million. The reason
for the discrepancies in the amounts was due to the fact that
Nguyen was said to have suffered more pain before his death
as he had managed to escape from the police van but then later
drowned in the river.
After the accident happened the Transportation Department
investigated the incident and filed a report. In this report
they cleared the two operators who were on duty at the time.
Within the same report they offered a suggestion as to the
cause of the tragedy: there is a large black counterweight
that descends when the deck is being lifted, the officers
may have mistaken this counterweight for the deck lowering,
and thus thought it was safe to cross.
© Attorneys OnlineT, Inc. | Law Firm Newsletter Provided by Attorneys OnlineT, Inc. |
