CORPUS CHRISTI - The 13th Court of Appeals today reversed a ruling denying the city of Corpus Christi’s plea to the jurisdiction in a suit alleging officers were negligent in allowing a police car to be stolen.
Gina Rios and Ysabel Martinez, as next friend to E.M., filed suit against the city following an automobile collision with the stolen CCPD vehicle.
According to the 13th Court’s opinion, an officer responded to a report of a theft in progress at a CVS pharmacy. The suspect was arrested after fleeing on foot and was handcuffed with his hands behind his back and restrained with a seatbelt in the backseat of a patrol car.
The suspect was able to remove the seatbelt and slid his cuffed hands from behind his back. Another officer monitored him from her patrol vehicle while the first officer was inside the store. The suspect then kicked out the plexiglass divider. The officer radioed for help while attempting to push him back into the rear seat but was overpowered.
While fleeing with the vehicle, the suspect disregarded a red light at a nearby intersection and collided with the plaintiffs’ vehicle, causing them to suffer personal injuries, the opinion states.
Court records show the city filed a plea to the jurisdiction, arguing that it was protected by governmental immunity from the plaintiffs’ suit, which the trial court denied.
On appeal, the city argued that its immunity was not waived because the plaintiffs’ claims did not arise from the city’s operation or use of a motor vehicle as required for a waiver under the Texas Tort Claims Act; the city’s officers were entitled to official immunity; and the plaintiffs did not assert a valid waiver of immunity for their claims that the city’s officers failed to properly handcuff and supervise the arrestee who commandeered the CCPD vehicle.
The 13th Court concluded the trial court erred in denying the city’s plea, reversing the trial court’s judgment and rendering a judgment dismissing the plaintiffs’ suit for want of jurisdiction.
“The City presented evidence establishing that its officers were entitled to official immunity from appellees’ claims,” the suit states. “Appellees failed to respond with evidence creating a fact issue regarding any element of the defense.
“Further, because the City’s officers are officially immune, its governmental immunity has not been waived.”
Appeals case No. 13-21-00414-CV