Stolen Patrol Car Injured Customs Officer, Family Sue City
By Bill Sontag - Del Rio, TX
11-22-03
A former U.S. Customs Service officer and his wife have filed a lawsuit against the city of Del Rio, the chief of the Del Rio Police Department and DRPD patrol officer, seeking an unspecified amount of damages for the officer’s injury in 2002 by a DRPD patrol car driving by a man trying to elude police.
Del Rio City Manager Rafael Castillo, Jr. said Friday afternoon he could not comment on the lawsuit, as he had not yet been served with notice that the suit was filed.
Ricardo Rios II and his wife, Marisela Rios, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court here Wednesday through their attorneys, Broadus A. Spivey of Austin and Paul A. Rios of San Antonio. The Rioses filed suit on behalf of themselves and their three children.
Rios suffered devastating injuries June 30, 2002 when he was hit at the Del Rio Port of Entry by a DRPD patrol car driven by Reymundo Avalos, who was attempting to flee into Mexico.
Attorney’s wrote in the lawsuit: "… Avalos was an adult person who had a criminal history in the city including a penchant or tendency to escape police custody which was well known to the police officers of the City Police Department, and he was known by the nickname around the city police department as ‘Houdini.’"
The lawsuit also reviews the events preceding the wreck.
Police Officer Wesley Wilson had arrested Avalos and placed him in handcuffs, the back seat of the patrol car. "Officer Wilson improperly left the prisoner Reymundo Avalos in the back seat of his patrol vehicle while the keys were in the ignition and the engine was running while he visited with a person who lived in the neighborhood," the attorneys wrote.
Avalos then slipped out of his handcuffs, crawled into the front seat of Wilson’s patrol car and drove off.
The attorney’s wrote that Del Rio police issued a lookout for Avalos and the stolen car and began channeling him toward the International Bridge.
"The City Police Department did not clearly inform the Del Rio Port of Entry Customs officers that the vehicle being driven by Reymundo Avalos was an officially marked patrol car of the City Police Department," attorneys for the Rios family wrote.
The attorney’s also wrote that the police officers chasing Avalos and the stolen patrol car had opportunities to divert of disable the vehicle, but failed to do so.
Rios’ attorneys wrote that the city is liable to the Rios family "pursuant to the concept of ‘police created danger.’"
The Rios family attorneys wrote that Rios’ injuries included the amputation of his right leg below the knee, the removal of his right eye, numerous broken bones, a severe concussion and the permanent loss of hearing in his right ear.
The lawsuit asks for damages for medical expenses, loss of earning capacity, physical impairment, physical pain, mental anguish, disfiguration, loss of consortium and attorney’s fees. The suit states that the Rioses have been damaged "in an amount in excess of the minimum jurisdictional limits of the court…" and that they are suing for that greater amount.
The Rios attorneys wrote that it is the city’s responsibility to implement and to enforce proper procedures regarding persons in custody and that DRPD officers were aware of state law requiring that the operator of a motor vehicle may not leave that vehicle unattended without stopping the engine, locking the ignition, removing the key from the ignition and setting the parking brake, effectively.
The attorney’s also wrote that Del Rio police were aware that Avalos posed a flight risk, and they were aware of his previous attempts to escape their custody.