But Montgomery County Common Pleas Magistrate Kristi McCartney wrote in a July 6 decision that Officer Randy Betsinger was on an emergency call at the time of the crash and did not operate his vehicle in a willful and wanton or reckless manner.
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“Defendant Betsinger looked away from the road for a few seconds and when he looked back in front of him, it was too late to stop his vehicle from striking the rear of Plaintiff’s vehicle,” the magistrate’s order says. “He was travelling under the posted speed limit prior to striking Plaintiff.”
Betsinger may have been negligent, the court found — he was found at fault and reprimanded by the department for this and another crash in about a week — but this is not enough to prevail in the suit against the city, the magistrate wrote.
Judge Steven Dankof concurred with the magistrate’s decision on July 25.
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