Wichita police officer at least partly to blame for crash that hurt woman, suit says

A Wichita police officer who was slow to turn on his emergency lights and who didn't yield to oncoming traffic while following another vehicle is at least partially to blame for a crash that injured an Illinois woman, a lawsuit filed by the woman alleges.

According to the lawsuit, Officer Samuel Floyd turned to follow a red truck at the intersection of Harry and Webb in southeast Wichita on Dec. 4, 2016, "choosing not to yield the right of way to oncoming traffic." Floyd didn't flip on his patrol car's flashing emergency lights or sirens until he was already making the left-hand turn onto southbound Webb from westbound Harry, the lawsuit alleges, and until the car that Breanna Parsons was riding in was "less than a car length away."

Floyd's patrol car and the car Parsons was a passenger in, which was eastbound on Harry, collided. Parsons is now suing the City of Wichita and Floyd in his capacity as officer, as well as the driver of the car she was in and Progressive Direct Insurance Company, over the crash.

In an amended petition filed Tuesday in Sedgwick County District Court, she accused Floyd of being "willful, wanton, reckless and negligent" in his driving that day. She is seeking more than $75,000 in damages, according to the suit.

The City of Wichita and the Wichita Police Department this week declined to comment on the case, citing pending litigation. Floyd has worked for the police department since June 2014, agency spokesman Officer Charley Davidson said by e-mail. They didn't answer a question about his current assignment.

The lawsuit says that while the lights on both westbound and eastbound Harry were green in the moments before the collision occurred, the car Parsons was in had the right of way because it was traveling straight on Harry instead of turning like Floyd's patrol car.

Floyd failed to "keep a proper lookout" while driving, didn't take evasive action to avoid a crash and "chose not to turn on his emergency lights and siren" until his turn was in progress, the lawsuit alleges. His actions potentially put others "at great risk of severe injury or death," it contends. The allegations against the city include failing to properly train its officers.

Parsons originally filed her lawsuit in October, court records show. But a judge dismissed the city and the officer from the suit late last year on a technicality - because Parsons' petition listed Floyd's work address as his home address.

The type of dismissal the judge granted left open the possibility that Floyd and the city could be added back into the lawsuit at a later date. The amended petition filed Tuesday by Parsons' attorney did that.

In November in a written response to the original petition, the city denied the allegations against it and the officer. But it did say in that response that it was in the process of investigating a written claim from Parsons for damages related to the crash at the time she filed her lawsuit.

The city, in the November response, also contends Floyd turned on his emergency lights and sirens before he turned left to follow the red truck. He acted "with due regard for the safety of all persons," the city said in its response.

As of Friday, the city had not yet filed a written answer to the claims in Parsons' amended petition.

Parsons incurred medical, hospital and surgical expenses, income and other economic loses and experienced pain and suffering as a result of the crash, the lawsuit says.

This story was originally published March 30, 2018 at 4:56 PM with the headline "Wichita police officer at least partly to blame for crash that hurt woman, suit says."