In harm's way Family files lawsuit over fatal high-speed chase

JACKSON, Mo. -- Bob and Laraine Adams hope a lawsuit will put the brakes on high-speed police chases in the aftermath of the death of their 22-year-old daughter, the victim of a fatal car accident three years ago that they say could have been avoided.

The Adamses believe their daughter, Meredith, would be alive today if then-sheriff's deputy Robert Watson hadn't engaged in a high-speed chase of a 14-year-old Tennessee boy, Laney Fowler Jr. of Halls, Tenn., who was driving erratically in a stolen car on Highway 61 in Jackson.

In heavy rain, the eastbound car driven by Fowler crashed into the rear of another eastbound vehicle and skidded across the wet pavement into a westbound lane of Highway 61, where it slammed into a car in which Meredith Adams was a passenger.

The impact broke Adams' front seat and threw her into the back seat. She was unconscious when emergency personnel removed her from the car. She died later that night at St. Francis Medical Center.

Thinks about her every day

For the Adams family, the loss can't be explained in cold, legal terms.

Laraine Adams said she thinks about her daughter every day. A large portrait of her daughter hangs above the living room staircase.

"I usually smile at her and give her a wink," said Adams. "She is my baby girl."

Adams said faith in God and the kindness of friends has helped them cope with their daughter's death.

But it's still not enough. Adams said she hopes that their lawsuit makes law enforcement officers think twice before they engage in high-speed chases, then maybe some good can come out of her daughter's death.

Meredith's parents and their 20-year-old son, Blake, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Cape Girardeau County, the county commission and Sheriff John Jordan.

Also named as defendants in the suit are Fowler, fellow teen-ager Kenneth Ryan Jobe of Gates, Tenn., who was in the car with Fowler at the time of the accident; Jobe's stepfather, Edward Diefenbach of Gates; and Jobe's mother, who is listed as Jane Doe in the suit because attorneys don't know her name. The car belonged to Jobe's parents, who reported it stolen.

The suit doesn't list Watson as a defendant because he has official immunity, but makes clear that the Adamses believe Watson was negligent in not breaking off the pursuit.

The suit notes that the chase occurred during a heavy thunderstorm on a crowded highway. It alleges that Watson should have known that continuing the chase would put other people at risk of being injured.

Followed procedure

Watson, who now works for the Cape Girardeau Police Department, couldn't be reached for comment. Cape Girardeau County officials insist that neither Watson nor the county contributed to the death of Meredith Adams.

Sheriff John Jordan said the deputy followed procedure. Jordan said Fowler's erratic driving prompted the pursuit.

"It made us sick when it happened," said Jordan, adding that the fault was entirely Fowler's.

The suit, filed on Aug. 27 in Cape Girardeau County Circuit Court, asks for a "just and fair amount" of money but lists no specific amount.

The fatal accident occurred on Aug. 25, 1998, shortly after 6 p.m. as Meredith was returning home from work at a Cape Girardeau real estate company.

Attorneys for the Adamses filed the suit on the last day it could be filed within the statute of limitations. The litigation had been delayed while attorneys studied a federal appeals court ruling earlier this summer that dealt with a high-speed chase in Minnesota.

Laraine Adams said the lawsuit isn't about money. "The money means nothing," she said. "I don't want that to happen to somebody else. I want police to use better judgment when doing something like a high-speed chase."

Adams said she can't understand why law enforcement officers would put other motorists in harm's way.

"To me, the whole thing was so senseless," Adams said of her daughter's death.

Visibility during the chase was so poor that motorists were pulling off to the side of the road, she said.

Adams said the Tennessee teen-agers took the car three days before Jobe's parents reported it missing. Their negligence contributed to the fatal accident, the lawsuit alleges.

In juvenile detention

Following the accident, Fowler pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Associate Circuit Judge Michael Bullerdieck in January 1999 sentenced him to five years' probation and ordered him held in a juvenile detention center in Missouri.

In May, Bullerdieck ordered that Fowler remain in the custody of the Division of Youth Services indefinitely. He can legally be held in a juvenile center until he is 21.

David Roth, an attorney for the Adams family, said there are cases across the country where hot pursuit has led to serious and even fatal accidents.

The Cape Girardeau Police Department has a detailed policy on high-speed chases. Police officers must take into account the seriousness of the suspect's crime and whether pursuing a suspect is worth the risk of injury or property damage that could result. The officer's supervisor also can call off the chase.

Police Chief Steve Strong, a 25-year veteran of the force, said he has broken off pursuit at times for fear other motorists would be injured.

Gerald Jones, Cape Girardeau County presiding commissioner, said he was told by sheriff's officials that Watson had dropped back during the chase for safety reasons. "A lot of times, hot pursuit turns out adversely. Our sheriff's department, in my opinion, is quite aware of that," he said.

Jones' daughter was friends with Meredith Adams. "My daughter and Meredith grew up together and played together," he said. "I have great remorse for that accident."

mbliss@semissourian.com

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