City of LaGrange sued over wreck of stolen police car 
LaGrange, GA - LaGrange Daily News - 2/02/02

A LaGrange woman who was seriously injured
in the wreck of a stolen police car has filed
a lawsuit against the city government for
unspecified damages.

Jessica Lewis, 18, and her ex-boyfriend,
Ronald McCormick, 18, had been arrested
about 4 a.m. on July 8, 2000 outside his
mother's residence on South Greenwood
Street for alleged underage drinking.

Both teen-ages were handcuffed to the rear
and placed in the back of Officer Joey
Mickle's patrol car.

When Mickle went to help another officer
who was struggling with McCormick's
mother, McCormick was able to get his
handcuffs to the front of him, then climb
through the patrol car's open cage and drive
on, police said.

McCormick lost control less than a half-mile
away, and hit a tree and the side of a 
building at Miller Street and Murphy Avenue.

McCormick was unhurt in the wreck, but
Lewis suffered a broken jaw and lost about
five teeth, according to the lawsuit which
said her medical bills have totaled $23,477.75.

It is clear from the evidence that the city
of LaGrange Police Department was negligent
in allowing Mr. McCormick and Ms. Lewis to be
in an unattended police vehicle with the vehicle
running," Atlanta attorney Orlando A. Marra
stated in a letter to city officials.

According to the petition, officers "knew
or should have known that McCormick was
intoxicated and posed an obvious flight risk
and danger to himself and others."

McCormick, also named as a defendant in
the suit, pleaded guilty to charges of 
serious injury by vehicle, DUI, fleeing
or attempting to elude, obstruction and
motor vehicle theft.


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