Fairfax County Pays $1.5 Million To Settle Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Fairfax County agreed Tuesday to pay $1.5 million to the family of Ashley McIntosh who was killed by a Fairfax police officer in a crash on Route 1, thus ending the wrongful death lawsuit against the county. McIntosh was driving her Toyota Corolla out of the Mount Vernon Plaza shopping center and was pulling onto Route 1 with a green light. Officer Amanda R. Perry was heading north on Route 1, with her emergency lights on but not her siren, when she drove through the red light at Boswell Road and struck McIntosh's car on the passenger side. McIntosh was ejected and died the next day. This type of wreckless driving is uncalled for and the danger posed by driving through a red light without the siren on is just plain stupid.
Fairfax prosecutors charged Perry with reckless driving but she was found not guilty in a bench trial. In a pretrial hearing, Perry acknowledged that she didn't use her emergency lights for several miles while heading to a reported fight in progress, in violation of police policy. There is a reason why departments have policies in place regarding using sirens and what to do when approaching intersections against the light. What makes matters worse is that the alleged fight was was actually the capture of a shoplifter. So this police officer ran a red light and took the life of a woman in her prime so she could respond to a call regarding a shoplifter. What a waste.
