Family sues Billings over death from police chase

BILLINGS - The family of a Billings nurse killed by a drunk driver who was fleeing from police has filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit against the city and Yellowstone County .

[Corey]

Its too bad that society has come to this in the first place that we feel the need to sue civil servants to get justice. The wrongful death and negligance lawsuit should be filed against the parents and grand parents of the driver who caused the accident for not raisng a more respectable member of society, not the City of Billings

[JSW]

I believe if the officers were gung-ho to make an arrest, and functioning under an alpha-cop mentality, then perhaps they put the need to arrest this driver over public safety. Some officers need to catch their man to prove a point, and some conduct themselves according to what is safe and prudent for the public. I think that should be the criteria for whether the city is sued, although it may be hard to determine either way. As for the parents and grandparents, I have personally known many people who were "raised right", and still turned out to have antisocial tendencies, and exhibit criminal behavior. And visa versa, of course; punishing parents, unless they have exhibited a documented pattern of negative behavior on their children, probably aren't to blame.