$200K Settlement in Crash Involving Texas Mayor’s City-Owned Vehicle
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on January 5th, 2017
The City of San Antonio, Texas, will pay a $200,000 settlement to an 18-year-old woman who was injured in April 2015 when the car she was riding in was struck by a city-owned SUV that was carrying the city’s mayor.
Tomekia Baldwin, 18, was seriously injured in the crash when the Chrysler Sebring she was riding in collided with the mayor’s Lincoln Navigator SUV, which was being driven by a city police officer, Mark Knutson, according to a Dec. 15 story by the San Antonio Express-News.
The crash, which occurred April 18, 2015, happened at the intersection of East Houston Street and North Hackberry in San Antonio, the story reported. Knutson was driving Mayor Ivy Taylor when the crash occurred.
A police report showed that Knutson was driving 6 mph over the 30-mph speed limit at the time of the crash, but that the driver of the Sebring, Jahson Arneaud, allegedly ran a red light, the story reported. Baldwin was a passenger in Arneaud’s car.
The lawsuit was filed in May 2015 by Baldwin’s mother, Sharlene Lewis, after her daughter suffered what the plaintiffs said is permanent brain damage and life-threatening injuries in the crash, the story reported.
The $200,000 settlement was approved by San Antonio City Council. The defendant’s attorney argued that the mayor’s vehicle had run a red light, but the city used video from an approaching VIA Metropolitan Transit bus to show that the mayor’s driver had a green light as he proceeded into the intersection, according to the story.
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