WELLLL....after several days of phone tag and chasing down the correct City's Insurance CO. I finally found them, "Lexington INS Co. in Boston, MA 617-330-4062 Susan Bard. 1/11/07 1:40 central Time I spoke with her and she is VERY fimiliar with the case/claim. She has mailed a letter to me(certified) stating that there is NO COVERAGE that the City has that can help me. I need to go after Thomas Fletcher(the drunk), yada, yada, I have heard it all before. The Officer has been punished and it was a judgement call, yada, yada. Thomas Fletcher has pleaded guilty and has to make restution(sp), My home owners has fixed the fence($500 DED) 1 car has been fixed from INS($500 DED), My GMC truck has been fixed $3450 out of my POCKET, The 72 Burb is still in my yard with no INS agreement on it as of yet. She says that I am left to hold the bag....on this one. She has gone through the policy and there is no coverage since it was a judgement call by Officer Cramer and The driver, Thomas Fletcher did the damage. WOW!!!! But if I find anymore info that may turn it in my favor, I can call her and let her know......RIGHT! I guess I can let CNN, FOX and Inside edition know its OK to go ahead with my story. "DUI Friendly Cities across the US" especially when the Cities and States tout ZERO Tolerance for DUI!
Pass it on, THIS SUCKS!!!
“ Welcome to Pensacola The DUI Friendly City on the Gulf Coast!”
Here is the Chief of Police Reply that made me think they were taking care of this.....RIGHT!
Dear Mr. Smith,
In reference to your email below, I wanted to advise you I have talked
with
Tom Mulroy(850-435-1613) with the City of Pensacola's Risk Management Office and he
said
your claim has been forwarded to the city's insurance carrier.
As you are aware, I suspended Officer Cramer for three weeks without
pay and
mandated he attend remedial training on DUI recognition as a result of
this
incident.
You have been in contact with Lt. Randy Stull, who supervises our
Professional Standards Unit, and he has supplied you with a copy of the
in-car video since the defendant in this case plead nolo contendre to
the DUI
charge.
If there is any additional information we can provide, please feel free
to
contact Lt. Stull at 850-435-1865.
John W. Mathis
Chief of Police
Pensacola Police Department
850.435.1855
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Here is what 1 viewer wrote:
Florida's Zero Tolerance for DUI Drivers is not
enforced in Pensacola.
Welcome to Pensacola "A DUI Friendly City"
WEAR-TV,
I saw the story that recently aired on WEAR-TV channel
3 about the intoxicated 21 year old who slammed into
Mr. Jeff Smith's home just minutes after he had been
stopped by the Pensacola Police.
http://www.weartv.com/newsroom/searc...1/oXmt8wIE.xml
Dash Cam Video:
YouTube - J Smith Police Video
Videos:
http://www.weartv.com/players/news/t...vid_1606.shtml
http://www.weartv.com/players/news/t...vid_1779.shtml
http://www.nbc15online.com/news/loca...5-31522fca1169
Pensacola News Journal article:
http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...712140340/1006
http://www.weartv.com/newsroom/searc...1/oXmt8wIE.xml
I just can not believe that PPD Officers would let
an individual such as this leave the scene of the
original stop at the Cabana Lounge in the condition he
was in. Firstly, would it not be standard operating
procedure for the Police to administer a field
sobriety test to any individual who was stopped for
recklessly driving his vehicle in a Bar or Tavern
parking lot?, especially at the time this incident
occurred? Is this a situation any Officer can deviate
from? Even if the Officer had another call, unless it
was an obviously grave situation, I can not for the
life of me, understand why anyone would let a person
who wreaked of alcohol drive away in his own vehicle
after such a stop under any condition, considering the
amount of damage an inebriated individual could do
with an automobile, up to and including negligent
homicide. Secondly, if there is a 1985 law that
protects the City from prosecution caused by the
negligence of their employees, why are they punishing
the Officer with 3 weeks of unpaid time off? Is he
not protected from punishment by this same law? Has
any case since 1985 overturned this particular
legislation? I know how lawyers like to quote laws
and fail to remember that a particular law may have
been overturned just to make a person less likely to
file a lawsuit. Seems like something is very fishy
here. Why are there no laws to require insurance
companies to report to Police when a Florida driver
cancels his insurance so that when the officer checks
that persons information through his dispatch he would
know immediately that the individual was not covered
by any automobile insurance? I would like to know how
we can continue to financially support a Police
department that fails to easily expose simple
criminals who choose to operate their vehicles in a
unlawful manner while those same people that support
the Police loose property and lives. I think that Mr.
Smith deserves to be compensated for his damages up to
what he had prior to this incident. I am ashamed that
the City fails to accept responsibility for the
decisions made by their Officers. I visited the site
and noticed that a speed bump was in the road by
Jeff's house where the drunk lost control was probably
another fact that should be considered as a
contributing factor in this incident. How does Mr.
Smith or anyone else in this community recover from an
incident such as this when no one is held responsible
for their actions? The City should be held accountable
so changes in their own policies can be taken
seriously by the City Council. Maybe the Governors
office could shed some light on this situation as it
pertains to accountability.
Thank you for reporting stories such as these as I
know that political pressure can sometimes come to
bear on your station for this type of story. The
"little guy" needs you.
Please follow up on this story and keep the public
informed.
Sincerely,
Jeff Cram
Ensley, FL