Injured WPD officer Brian Arterburn's family sues car lot that owned SUV that hit him
The family of injured Wichita police officer Brian Arterburn is suing the car dealership that owned the SUV that ran over him during a police pursuit last year.
Arterburn's wife, Claudale Arterburn, filed a lawsuit Monday against Eddy's Chevrolet Cadillac. The lawsuit contends Eddy's was negligent because it knew the black 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe had been stolen but failed to tell authorities it was missing until the day Arterburn was run over - almost two months later.
The car lot knew or should have known "that there is a strong correlation between automobile thefts and automobile accidents" and that "there is an increased likelihood that a thief primarily concerned with avoiding detection and arrest often disregards traffic laws, endangering pedestrians and motorists alike," the lawsuit says. It also alleges that Eddy's failed to make sure its vehicles were secure, didn't establish safeguards to prevent thefts and "violated its duty to the public to ensure its vehicle was not furnished to a reckless and/or incompetent driver."
The Tahoe was valued at $66,200.
Eddy's Chevrolet Cadillac didn't immediately comment on the case Monday afternoon. The dealership, at 8801 E. Kellogg Drive in Wichita, is owned by Brandon Steven Motors.
“Every single day of our lives has been hell since Brian was run over by that car. It’s time for Eddy’s to answer some tough questions. Wichita police deserve honest answers –they lost a great officer in the line of duty that day," Claudale Arterburn, who is also a Wichita police officer, said in a news release announcing the lawsuit.
The lawsuit seeks more than $75,000 in damages for Arterburn's injuries and his medical bills, lost wages and benefits, pain, suffering and disfigurement.
Leading up to the crash that injured Arterburn on Feb. 7, Wichita police were staking out a house at 1803 S. Santa Fe where a wanted person was believed to be. They noticed the Tahoe with dealer tags in the driveway and called Eddy's after running the tag number. The officers were then told at the time of the call - 11:07 a.m. - that the SUV had been stolen on Dec. 17, 2016, the lawsuit alleges. Two dealer plates also were missing from the dealership and hadn't previously been reported stolen.
Two hours after police called Eddy's, a man got into the Tahoe, backed out of the driveway and fled from the house, leading to a police pursuit. The Tahoe ran over Arterburn as he was trying to deploy stop sticks on Topeka Street. The driver then sped away.
Eddy's "negligent conduct created a foreseeable risk of injury," the lawsuit says. Each day the dealership "failed to report the thefts, the risk of injury increased."
Since Feb. 7, Arterburn has undergone extensive rehabilitation but still suffers from "severe mental and physical impairments requiring around-the-clock professional care," Wichita law firm Hutton and Hutton said in the news release.
He spent more than a month in critical care at Via Christi Hospital St. Francis in Wichita before being flown to a Colorado rehabilitation hospital in March 2017. He also received intensive rehabilitation services in Texas. He returned home in November.
"Officer Arterburn has a family he can no longer support, and his future care costs are mind-boggling," attorney Mark Hutton said in the news release. "But money will never restore their lives - the Arterburns also need peace of mind, and to understand how and why this life-altering event was allowed to occur."
The man accused of fleeing in the Tahoe, 32-year-old Justin Terrazas, has been charged with aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer and other felony crimes in the case. His jury trial is scheduled to begin on Aug. 20, according to court records.
This story was originally published March 19, 2018 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Injured WPD officer Brian Arterburn's family sues car lot that owned SUV that hit him."