HURRICANE, W.Va. — A civil lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court in connection with a deadly crash on Interstate 64 in Putnam County that happened during a police pursuit.
The husband of Angela Born alleges law enforcement are in part to blame for the March 5 collision near Hurricane that claimed the Clendenin businesswoman’s life.
Police were pursuing Putnam County resident Joseph Elswick after he allegedly stole his grandmother’s vehicle. The pursuit continued onto the interstate where spike strips were used to try and stop Elswick. The lawsuit alleges Elswick weaved in an out of traffic to try and avoid the spike strips and then slammed into Born’s vehicle which burst into flames. She died at the scene.
The civil lawsuit calls the pursuit unnecessarily dangerous claiming Elswick, who had allegedly stolen his grandmother’s jeep and purse, had not put the general public in danger.
The lawsuit alleges the officers that were pursuing Elswick were negligent and violated Born’s civil rights by continuing the pursuit onto a packed interstate.
“The civil justice system exists to provide answers and accountability when something like this happens,” Born family attorney Dante diTrapano said. “The Born family is seeking that accountability, and we will use every avenue available through the civil justice system to seek answers, ensure accountability, and help prevent something like this from happening again.”
Fellow family attorney Jesse Forbes said the police officers should have known better.
“There are are supposed to be protocols in place to keep civilians safe during law enforcement pursuits and to disengage those pursuits when they become too dangerous, Forbes said. “But sadly, as alleged here, and given the information that has come to light so far, there are serious questions about how this pursuit was allowed to continue for so long onto a highway and ultimately to have spike strips deployed in such a heavily trafficked area.”
The lawsuit was filed against the City of Hurricane, the Putnam County Commission, a Putnam County sheriff’s deputies and other police officers and deputies who were part of the pursuit.
Elswick remains in jail on charges of vehicular homicide, fleeing with reckless indifference, among other charges.
Born, 52, left behind her husband and six children.
She and her husband owned Country Road House and Berries Bed Breakfast in Clendenin including a farm where visitors could pick their own strawberries.
Police have maintained the pursuit was justified.
The civil lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Huntington.