Couple settles case over son's traffic death

A Lincoln County couple has settled their claim against the county and its sheriff's office for the traffic death of their 15-year-old son.

Jacob Cable Harris died on Aug. 5, 2003, when Lincoln County Sheriff's deputy Richard Larsen crashed a patrol vehicle into the car that Harris was driving on U.S. 2.

His parents received $500,000.

"It's a joke to say that they can possibly compensate a family for what happened," David Harris said. "Money can't, anyway."

What they wanted was an apology, which never came, he said.

The couple said they pursued a claim against the county to draw attention to what they believe is risky behavior on the part of officers.

"Our son wasn't at fault," Katie Harris said. "He was just an innocent kid out on a summer night."

According to a Montana Highway Patrol report, the accident happened at about 11:30 p.m. at the intersection of Indian Head Road.

Larsen was chasing the driver of a vehicle that was reported stolen. According to the Montana Highway Patrol, the stolen vehicle went into a spin on the highway west of the intersection with Indian Head Road.

Larsen reportedly saw the vehicle spinning and was slowing down as he went into the center turning lane to pass the car driven by Harris, which was in the left, westbound lane between Larsen and the car he was pursuing.

The highway patrol said that as Larsen began to go around Harris, Harris' car drifted in front of Larsen into the turning lane. The right front of Larsen's car hit the rear passenger door of Harris' car, and both vehicles traveled across the eastbound lanes until Harris' car hit a curb and flipped onto its roof.

Harris was partially ejected through the car's sunroof and was pinned beneath the car.

He died the next day from his injuries. Two 17-year-old girls in the car with Harris suffered minor injuries.

Larsen suffered minor injuries.

The driver who started the incident, William Escudero, fled but was arrested two weeks later in Tucson, Ariz.

The Harrises sued, saying the sheriff's office was negligent. Larsen's pursuit was not justified, they said, because the driver of the vehicle he was chasing was not endangering anyone and his identity and address were known to officers, so he could have been apprehended later. Court documents from the Harrises say Larsen testified to driving at speeds of 70 miles per hour during the pursuit.

Whitefish attorney Sean Frampton said the main part of the Harrises' claim was that the sheriff's office did not follow its own policies. Officers were not trained on the policy of when to engage in a hot pursuit and when to back off, Frampton said.

There is a question of whether a dispatcher told Larsen the owner of the car knew who had taken it without her permission and that the car "wasn't really that stolen," Frampton said.

Officers knew "who he was and where he lived," Frampton said of the suspect. "They could apprehend him later… They should never have started their pursuit to begin with."

He said Larsen "has a very poor driving history" and had struck "telephone poles and guard rails and intentionally rammed into vehicles" before he hit and killed Harris.

After the accident, Larsen was promoted and sheriff's officers have not changed the way they drive, the Harrises said.

A spokeswoman for the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office said Sheriff Daryl Anderson would refer questions to Undersheriff Jerry Rust, who did not return a phone call.

"They need to slow down," David Harris said. "They continue to drive at 100 miles per hour past my shop. Killing our son didn't seem to convince them to slow down.

"There's not a lot that happens in a town like this," he said, at least not the kinds of things that require a high-speed pursuit.

"The worst crime I've seen in my 13 years here was my son's slaughter on that highway by the people who were supposed to protect him … We don't want it to happen to anyone else."

Jacob, he said, was an honor-roll student who paid his own car insurance with money he earned working at McDonald's. He had never had an accident before the night he died, Harris said.

"He was a very careful driver."

His parents donated his organs.

"Our son's heart went to a man in Wenatchee with two daughters. He's completely healthy. He has the heart of an athlete" now, David Harris said.

"That was the only thing that got us through. He has Jacob, even though we do not."

Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com