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Guy Thomas suit settled
Judge OKs wrongful death settlement
Published Friday, March 5, 2010
IRONTON — A lawsuit brought against the City of Ironton by the family of the man who was dragged beneath a police care has been officially settled.
An application to approve the settlement was filed Feb. 3 with the Lawrence County Probate Court. An agreement was made in principle but wasn’t official until the judge approved the terms.
Guy Thomas’ family will receive $250,000, which will be paid by the City of Ironton’s insurance company.
Juan Thomas and LouVerne Miller, brother and aunt of Thomas, filed the wrongful death suit June 2, 2009, in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court.
The suit accused Ironton Police Officer Richard Fouts of striking Thomas with his cruiser, dragging him a half-mile in the snow.
“Obviously this was a terrible accident,” Mayor Rich Blankenship said. “Our insurance company and the city felt this is the best way to handle this.”
The two parties came to an agreement Dec. 17.
Blankenship described the mediation with Thomas’s family as a “gruelling” and difficult day.
“I’m glad that this is in the past and we can move on,” he said.
Following an autopsy by the Franklin County Coroner’s Office, no determination was made as to the cause of death or whether Thomas was alive when the police cruiser contacted him in March 2008.
The autopsy suggested that traumatic asphyxia, a possible seizure, an elevated ethanol level and possible hypothermia contributed to the death.
However, a statement written in support of the settlement claims that Thomas was alive at the moment of impact with the cruiser.
Dr. Mark Flomenbaum, a pathologist hired by the family, stated that it was virtually impossible for hypothermia to have been the cause of death based on the time that Thomas could have been down in the street.
It was Flomenbaum’s opinion that Thomas died of a seizure and alcohol was not the cause.
“I believe with a reasonable degree of medical and scientific certainty that Mr. Thomas was still alive at the moment of impact with the car,” the statement quotes Flomembaum as saying.
A private investigator hired by Miller determined that Fouts had scraped a small hole in the ice on his windshield.
Besides the hole, the windshield was covered in ice when the car struck Thomas, who was already in the street, according to the statement.
Fouts later resigned from the department.
Investigations by both the police department and private investigations indicated that Thomas did not suffer conscious pain prior to his death.
Calls to Thomas’ family and their lawyer for comment were not returned.
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Comments
Posted by 4victims (anonymous) on March 5, 2010 at 10:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
So in other words, if Fouts would have taken enough time to clean his windshield properly then he may have been able to see thomas in the street and possibly could have saved him instead of what happened. The officer was still negligent. Because, (officer) he resigned they didnt push criminal charges. Possibly abuse of a corpse, negligent homocide, negligent manslaughter, etc..This town is a trip.
Posted by falinrok (anonymous) on March 5, 2010 at 11:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Then leave if you dont like it here 4victims.
Posted by Demi (anonymous) on March 5, 2010 at 11:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)
intelligent comment as usual falinrock! Because a person has an opinion or does not like everything that goes on, they should leave??
Posted by Country (anonymous) on March 5, 2010 at 11:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
No one can say for certain what really did happen on this bad snowy night. Even if the officer had fully cleaned his windshield. It could have looked like a snow drift or maybe he would have seen him. Will be one of those unanswered questions.
Posted by hdm1903 (anonymous) on March 5, 2010 at 11:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If i had done that,,, Charges would have been brought upon me.
Posted by bleedingheart (anonymous) on March 5, 2010 at 12:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Did I read in the paper a couple of weeks ago where it is illegal to drive without clearing off your windshield? Ran over a twig a couple of weeks ago when the snow and ice were so bad, my kids asked what I was dragging.
Posted by snoopydog (anonymous) on March 5, 2010 at 4:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I bet the family would much rather have Guy back in their lives than the little bit of money you paid for his life. My prayers go out to the family
Posted by Big_un (anonymous) on March 5, 2010 at 5:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
That poor fellow was already lying in the street, maybe sick, maybe unconscious, certainly intoxicated. The officer left his residence on that cold snowy night to go to work. Somehow, tragically, Mr. Thomas' clothes or body got tangled under the officer's cruiser, and because of the ice and snow already on the ground and in the street, Mr. Thomas' body was pulled along behind or under the car, without the officer realizing it. Can't you see that it was a tragic accident, and not a criminal act? Can't you see that regardless of how freak it was, it was not done on purpose? Can't you agree that Mr. Thomas probably contributed to the tragedy by his decision to become intoxicated?
Posted by Frogtowner (anonymous) on March 5, 2010 at 5:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well said Big_un. It amazes me that so many people wanted the officer charged with a crime. It is also a shame that Mr. Thomas passed the way he did. But the key question here has to be.....would this have happened if he were not lying in the street? I'm happy to see that this is finally over.
Posted by countrygirl (anonymous) on March 5, 2010 at 6:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Voices of reason...Frogtowner and Big-un. What tragic circumstances for both parties involved. My heart goes out to the police officer...a victim himself of alcohol.
Posted by fanofpedro (anonymous) on March 5, 2010 at 7:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Would this still have happened if the officer would have taken the time to clear off his windows who knows! I believe they were both at fault to an extent. I lived in germany for a while it's a law there that you have to completely clear all snow and Ice off your windows. Maybe he would have seen the gentleman if he'd taken the time to clear his windows off who knows.
Posted by bleedingheart (anonymous) on March 5, 2010 at 7:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Would love to know if this officier is employed as a policeman somewhere else. He lack of judgment (at best) proves he needed another line of work. Without any disciplinary action his work record was probably clean. Hope we never read again where this officier is involved in another tragedy. Whose hands would that be on??
Posted by Big_un (anonymous) on March 5, 2010 at 8 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I believe Mr. Thomas was behind the cruiser, so I'm not sure how cleaning the windshield would have changed anything. Maybe the officer should have checked around the perimeter of his vehicle before he got in and drove off. Maybe we should all do that, just in case. But that just doesn't seem to me to be something that would normally cross a person's mind.
Posted by Itowngirl (anonymous) on March 6, 2010 at 3:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Big_un Guy was not behind his car. He was in the street about 2 blocks from where the officer left his house and he was run over while lying in the street. So if he had cleaned his windshield he should have seen him laying in the street before running him over.
Posted by Big_un (anonymous) on March 6, 2010 at 10:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I stand corrected then. The officer should have cleaned his windshield. Mr. Thomas should have stayed out of the street.
Posted by 4victims (anonymous) on March 6, 2010 at 1:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
To bleedingheart.
yes he works as an officer up north in ohio. no discipline!
Be interesting to know if chief gave him and the other guy that resigned a good reference, but probably not hard to find out.
Posted by Big_un (anonymous) on March 6, 2010 at 3:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
For purposes of finding something bad to say about the IPD, you can complain that the officer should have been prosecuted or at least disciplined. My question is, for what? He didn't run over a pedestrian. He didn't know what was happening until he
got to the station. A crime requires some level of intent. He was maybe negligent for not cleaning his windshield well enough, but even that is questionable since it is not reasonably forseeable that a person would be lying in the street.
Posted by bleedingheart (anonymous) on March 6, 2010 at 9:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Big un, How do you know?? Take the officier's word for it?? The matter was cleared up way too quickly and Officier Fouts moved on way too quickly. I just really find it hard to believe that you could drag a person that far and not know you were dragging something. I believe after a few blocks I would have had to look to see what it was. Honestly, wouldn't you?? Be honest and drag something that big under your car and tell me you can't feel it. I believe it was an accident, but the officier didn't stop after the accident. That deserves disciplinary action.
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