Women sue PA cop over crash with cruiser

Two women have filed suit against the Port Arthur policeman they say rear-ended the vehicle in which they were riding.

Deanna Scott Feazel claims she was stopped at the intersection of State Highway 87 and Fifth Avenue in a 1994 Nissan Sentra on Dec. 23. Feazel was waiting to make a left onto Fifth Avenue when Port Arthur policeman and defendant Herbert Louis Otis III struck the rear of Feazel's Sentra at a high rate of speed in his cruiser, according to the complaint filed April 7 in Jefferson County District Court.

At the time of the accident, co-plaintiff Denise Wiggins was riding as a passenger in Feazel's vehicle, the suit states.

Because of the collision, Feazel and Wiggins incurred medical costs; experienced physical pain, suffering and physical impairment; and lost earnings, the complaint says.

In addition, they claim they lost consortium, suffered disfigurement, incurred property damages, sustained mental anguish and fear a future disease.

Otis negligently failed to keep a proper lookout, failed to turn his motor vehicle to avoid a collision, failed to keep a reasonable distance between his vehicle and Feazel's, drove too fast and failed to apply his brakes.

In addition to Otis, Feazel and Wiggins name the city of Port Arthur as a defendant, saying it should have known that Otis was a reckless and incompetent driver when it hired him.

In their complaint, Feazel and Wiggins seek a judgment within the jurisdictional limits of Jefferson County District Court, plus pre-judgment interest at the maximum rate allowed by law, post-judgment interest at the legal rate, costs and other relief the court deems just.

Langston Scott Adams of Port Arthur will be representing them.

The case has been assigned to Judge Milton Shuffield, 136th District Court.

Jefferson County District Court case number: D186-482.