The Village of Pontoon Beach and two of its officers say that a wrongful death lawsuit involving a police pursuit should be dismissed, arguing that the parents of the deceased passenger fail to assert any liability against the driver of the stolen vehicle and do not support their claim for willful and wanton conduct.
St. Louis attorney Peter Dunne of Pitzer Snodgrass PC filed a combined motion to dismiss on Feb. 23 on behalf of the Village of Pontoon Beach and officers Todd Irvin and William Tracy.
“The plaintiffs clearly seek to hold the defendant police officers liable for either refusing to allow a fleeing felon to get away, thereby potentially breaching their duty owed to the public and the general community of Pontoon Beach, or by failing to provide adequate police service for failing to prevent felon driver John Shea’s crimes and failing to adequately stop felon John Shea’s reckless driving, claims and causes of actions specifically barred by the Tort Immunity Act,” Dunne wrote.
The defendants argue that the plaintiffs fail to plead sufficient facts to prove or state a cause of action for willful and wanton conduct, fail to support their argument that the officers caused decedent Brandon Hagopian’s death rather than the fleeing driver and that they are immune under the Tort Immunity Act.
The defendants argue that plaintiffs Patsy and Dennis Hagopian fail to provide facts to support that the defendants were the cause of Brandon Hagopian’s death rather than the fleeing driver - convicted felon Shea. In fact, the lawsuit fails to identify Shea by name and does not assert any liability against him.
“In so failing to name driver John Shea as a named defendant, the plaintiffs attempt to avoid the very facts they admit in their complaint,” Dunne wrote, “that Shea fled a traffic stop in Collinsville, drove away at a high rate of speed, that he was seen driving at a high rate of speed on Interstate 55 under Interstate 255, that he accelerated to over 99 miles per hour after Officer Irvin turned his overhead lights on to attempt to stop Shea, and that Shea’s reckless driving and driving at excessive and dangerous speeds were the direct and proximate cause of decedent’s death.”
“The control of preventing the collision here was always solely in Shea’s hands; all he had to do was obey the law and stop when requested to do so by various police agencies,” Dunne added. “Shea’s failure to obey the police and stop, and then to flee at speeds of at least 99 miles per hour, was an independent criminal and negligent act and constitutes a superseding cause.”
The defendants argue that the plaintiffs fail to plead any facts showing they were aware of any passengers in the vehicle. They claim Shea exposed the decedent and the general public to the risks his driving caused and is the only person responsible for fleeing a traffic stop and driving at excessive speeds.
“Those actions were felon ‘unknown driver’ Shea’s, and Shea’s alone,” Dunne wrote.
The defendants also argue that the plaintiffs fail to establish that the officers displayed an utter indifference to or conscious disregard for the safety of others. The plaintiffs accuse the officers of driving at an accelerated speed, which the defendants claim is a conduct undertaken by Shea.
Further, the defendants argue that they did not owe a special duty to Hagopian.
“The duty of police is to preserve the well-being of a community at large; the police generally do not owe this duty to specific individuals,” Dunne wrote.
The plaintiffs filed a reply to the defendants’ motion to dismiss on March 11 through attorney Ryan Sweet of Swanson Sackett & Sweet PC in Edwardsville.
They argue that Shea’s actions are irrelevant to a proximate cause determination.
“[I]t is clear that defendants Irvin and Tracy should have recognized that their pursuit of the alleged offender, coupled with a high-speed chase could ultimately lead to the injury and/or death of those being chased,” Sweet wrote.
Sweet wrote that the Pontoon Beach officers initiated the pursuit after it was terminated by another jurisdiction “for the egregious offense of not having an illuminated rear registration.” He added that the vehicle Hagopian was riding in only accelerated after being pursued by the officers and that shock sticks are “only permitted when there is legal justification for the use of deadly force.”
The Hagopians also argue that everyone owes a duty of ordinary care to guard against injuries that could result from an act.
“Here, the threshold question of whether defendants’ acts or omissions contributed to a risk of harm to Brandon is a resounding yes,” Sweet wrote.
The plaintiffs argue that there is no evidence that the defendants knew Shea was driving the vehicle. They claim the defendants only knew he was fleeing from a traffic stop for not having an illuminated rear registration.
“Thus, what is the burden of requiring officers not to use deadly force in response to a perceived equipment violation when the safety of innocent citizens, law enforcement officers, and fleeing violators is at risk,” Sweet wrote.
Sweet filed the lawsuit on behalf of Patsy and Dennis Hagopian, individually and as co-administrators of the estate of Brandon Hagopian, on Jan. 14.
According to the complaint, Brandon Hagopian was the front seat passenger of a silver Mercury Grand Marquis on May 30, 2021, shortly after midnight. The suit states that the vehicle had unknown registration and was being driven by an unidentified white male. However, news reports and court documents from the incident state that Shea was the driver and was fleeing from police in a stolen vehicle.
Sweet argues in the lawsuit that Collinsville police officer Josh Fields observed the vehicle entering a parking lot of the Circle K Gas Station on Vandalia Street. The rear license plate was not illuminated, so Fields activated his emergency lights to initiate a traffic stop due to the equipment violation.
The complaint states that the driver did not respond to Fields' attempt and instead continued northbound on Vandalia Street, taking the Interstate 55/70 southbound exit ramp. Fields terminated the attempted traffic stop and allegedly put out a request for an ISPERN broadcast. He allegedly turned around and returned to Collinsville.
At 12:12 a.m., Irvin received the ISPERN broadcast that the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed on Interstate 55 southbound passing under Interstate 255.
Sweet wrote that Irvin advised Tracy to respond to Highway 111 towards Interstate 55/70 in case the driver traveled northbound on Highway 111. Tracy was allegedly advised to sit at the entrance to Horseshoe Lake State Park with Stop Sticks and to deploy them if the driver fled.
“Pursuit intervention is an attempt to terminate the ability of a suspect to continue to flee in a motor vehicle through tactical application of technology, road spikes, blocking, boxing, PIT (Police Immobilization Technique), ramming, heading off, or roadblock procedures,” the suit states.
“Spikes or tack strips are a device that extends across the roadway designed to puncture the tires of the pursued vehicle,” it continues.
Irvin allegedly went to the area of Highway 111 at Sand Prairie Lane in Pontoon Beach, where he observed the vehicle traveling northbound towards his location. He activated his red and blue lights in an attempt to initiate a traffic stop.
The driver sped up and started to flee northbound on Highway 111, which is a two-lane road with a posted speed limit of 50 miles per hour near the entrance of Horseshoe Lake State Park. The vehicle allegedly reached a speed of 99 miles per hour and eventually ran over the Stop Sticks deployed by Tracy. The vehicle allegedly struck a tree, ejecting Hagopian.
Hagopian was transported to Saint Louis University Hospital and was pronounced dead at 1:16 a.m. due to blunt force trauma to his head, torso and extremities, the suit states.
Sweet argues that law enforcement officers are not under legal obligation to pursue a fleeing vehicle.
He claims the defendants improperly initiated the pursuit from another jurisdiction “for a petty offense,” which he says “exposed Brandon Hagopian to a risk of serious injury or death.”
He also claims the circumstance was not serious enough to continue the pursuit and that the officers had no regard for the safety of the occupants in the fleeing vehicle.
Sweet argues that the officers failed to discontinue the pursuit, improperly used a forcible stop technique at high speeds and improperly used a disproportionate amount of force, “thereby exposing Brandon Hagopian to a risk of serious injury or death.”
Sweet also argues that the defendants are the ones who placed Hagopian in “circumstances that endangered his life or health.”
“Such conduct demonstrates a failure, after knowledge of impending danger, to exercise ordinary care to prevent the danger,” Sweet wrote.
According to court documents, Shea was later charged with reckless homicide, offenses relating to motor vehicles and aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer on Sept. 17.
In addition to the charges relating to the May 30 incident, Shea's criminal history shows he has been charged with offenses ranging from theft, possession of meth, possession of a stolen vehicle and fleeing police.
Specifically, last year Shea was charged with fleeing a police officer in February 2021, being in possession of a stolen vehicle and attempting to elude an officer on April 9, 2021, again attempting to flee the police on April 12, 2021, being in possession of a stolen flatbed on Aug. 19, 2021, being in possession of a stolen vehicle on Aug. 24, 2021, and being in possession of a stolen vehicle on Aug. 26, 2021.
Madison County Circuit Court case number 22-LA-57