The family of a St Clair man has filed a lawsuit against the city and a police officer who they believe was responsible for their son’s death.
Ironically, it is exactly 3 months after their son’s untimely demise.
On July 22 James Bush was on his way to his parents’ home for dinner where his mother and girlfriend were waiting for him.
Unfortunately, he never made it.
The 20-year-old was on his motorcycle on Old Eight Mile Road when a police car cut in front of him from nowhere; he crashed into the vehicle.
The entire drama was caught on dash cam.
He succumbed to his injuries and died a few hours later in hospital.
What was the officer up to?
It was around 9:30 PM that Officer Thomas Murphy spotted a minivan that did not have its lights on.
The driver was in the opposite lane headed towards a private driveway.
The cop made a rash decision to pursue the person behind the wheel, for a charge that would have invited a $ 150 fine. He made a sharp U-turn cutting horizontally in front of oncoming traffic.
“He drove his vehicle so recklessly as to demonstrate a substantial lack of concern as to whether injury would result. At numerous times during his run, including the moment of the collision, defendant Officer Thomas Murphy drove his vehicle in violation of Michigan law in that he failed to operate his siren and overhead lights and failed to ascertain the potential safety of his actions prior to taking action,” the lawsuit states.
He then collided with Bush. Bush was on his way to work — he never imagined he would die that day, all because a cop wanted to drive recklessly in order to take money from someone.
In the dash cam footage, moments after the accident the officer can be heard asking the unfortunate victim if he is okay. The young man is groaning in pain.
He then calls for an ambulance, which took Bush to the hospital where he died.
The lawsuit
The family’s attorney David Femminineo says that Officer Murphy showed an indifference to all motorists on the road.
“It’s clear from the video that there is less than a one second timeframe for my client to take evasive action,” he added.
At this stage, the Michigan State Police has submitted its findings from an investigation to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.
As it is still an active investigation, authorities declined to comment.
Femminineo says the outcome has no bearing on the civil lawsuit, which will go ahead irrespective.
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