by April Scheinoha
Reporter
The Minnesota Court of Appeals has upheld a district court judge’s opinion in the civil lawsuit stemming from the 2011 death of a Thief River Falls man. Eddie Briggs, 78, died after a stolen squad car struck his pickup truck in Crookston. The opinion enables the civil case to proceed.
Patricia Briggs filed the civil lawsuit on behalf of herself and her late husband. She filed the lawsuit in April 2013 against Don Rasicot, individually and as an officer with the Crookston Police Department, and the city of Crookston.
Eddie Briggs was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident Sept. 3, 2011, in Crookston. An autopsy later found he had suffered a thoracic aorta laceration, left hemothorax, multiple rib fractures and a left radius/ulna fracture. His wife, Patricia, suffered non-life threatening injuries in the crash. A metal plate was later inserted in her arm to repair a fracture in her right humerus bone.
In November 2014, Judge Kurt Marben ruled that neither Rasicot nor the city of Crookston were entitled to official immunity in the civil case. That ruling was then appealed by Rasicot and the city to the Court of Appeals.
In an opinion filed Monday, June 29, the Court of Appeals affirmed Marben’s opinion. According to its opinion, the Court of Appeals ruled that Rasicot wasn’t entitled to common law official immunity because he had violated city ordinance and police department policy by leaving the unattended squad car unlocked with its engine idling. It found that the incident only escalated into an emergency after Rasicot and another officer had confronted the perpetrator. The Court of Appeals further noted that Rasicot hadn’t activated the squad car’s lights and sirens while responding to the initial complaint.
The Court of Appeals also ruled that the city wasn’t entitled to vicarious official immunity with regard to Rasicot’s actions. As a result, the civil case may proceed.
Prior to the crash, Officer Ryan Bergquist was investigating a report that a man had damaged a woman’s vehicle and had demanded money from her outside of the Crookston Veterans of Foreign Wars Post. The opinion indicated that she pointed out Ricardo Mello, who was walking nearby. Mello and another man ignored Bergquist’s attempts to communicate with them. Mello then entered a nearby bar. Rasicot soon responded, and both officers approached the building on opposite ends. Rasicot testified that he believed Mello was “assaultive, combative, and had a tendency to flee arrest based on Mello’s prior run-ins with law enforcement.” Upon seeing someone whom he thought was Mello through a bar window, Rasicot exited his idling, unlocked squad car in an attempt to apprehend him.
During an ensuing confrontation, Mello was tased twice. At one point, he pulled the darts out of his body and pushed Rasicot. Bergquist also attempted to tase Mello with no effect. They also maced Mello, but they were temporarily blinded by the mace. He then fled the bar and entered the squad car. The officers attempted to grab the keys out of the ignition before he sped away. The squad car later crashed with the Briggs’ vehicle.
Mello, then 24, was also injured in the crash. He was sentenced in 2012 for his role in the incident. He was sentenced to a total of 240 months in prison with credit for time served. According to a Northern Watch article at the time, Mello was also ordered to pay $36,656.72 in restitution.