Former police officer, city of Tempe sued after woman lost her unborn child in car crash
Plaintiff Jade Shone's wrongful death suit against former Tempe police officer Zachary Hyde and the city contends he was negligent, careless and reckless when he sped through a red light in Mesa after immediately turning his sirens on. The suit further argues Tempe failed to provide oversight and training for their officer.
Filed Jan. 27, the suit seeks an excess of $300,000 in damages, citing how the crash resulted in Shone being injured in her neck, back and abdomen, and how the heartbeat of the child she was expecting, whom she named Isla, stopped. Isla died after the healthy, viable fetus in the 22nd week of gestation had no oxygen when the placenta tore and bled as a result of the crash, according to the suit.
On May 24, Shone was driving northbound in a 2020 Kia Forte on Dobson and Broadway roads on a green light and wearing a seat belt, according to the suit. The Ford Explorer police vehicle Hyde was driving eastbound on Broadway struck her, the suit said.
A Mesa police report stated that both Shone and Hyde were observing their respective speed limits, and that there were multiple airbag deployments in the Kia. The police report listed a second person whose vehicle was struck, and both Shone and this other injured person were taken to nearby Banner Desert Medical Center.
"By failing to ensure it was safe to enter the intersection, Defendant Hyde failed to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons and exhibited reckless disregard for the safety of others," reads the suit.
The Tempe Police Department declined to comment about the suit, noting the city is a defendant. Hyde could not be immediately reached for comment.
Citing an Arizona statute on emergency vehicles that states they may 'proceed past a red or stop signal or stop sign but only after slowing down as necessary for safe operation,' the suit contends the plaintiff 'had no time to react' to Hyde's actions.
Shone and Isla's father "experienced tremendous pain, grief, sorrow, anguish, stress, shock, and mental suffering since the death of" their expected child and will continue to be devastated the rest of their lives, the suit argues.
Other damages listed in the suit relate to lost wages and other financial losses, including Isla's funeral expenses.
In July 2024, then-officer Hyde was arrested by the Arizona Department of Public Safety while off duty and charged with driving under the influence. The Tempe Police Department immediately placed Hyde on administrative leave pending a departmental investigation.
The statement they released then noted, "Any time a criminal investigation is brought to our attention about one of our officers, we take the matter very seriously."
Because the city is a party to civil litigation, they said they could not comment beyond the above.
A DUI offense report from July 31 by DPS detailed how Hyde was pulled over in a Mercedes-Benz that showed damage to the front bumper and had been seen swerving. Hyde, the report continued, showed slurred speech, watery eyes, the smell of alcohol and struggled to walk after exiting his vehicle.
According to the report, Hyde told the DPS officer he had two beers three hours prior. A breathalyzer test determined he had an alcohol level of .205, according to the DPS report.
At the time of Hyde's arrest, DPS mentioned he had been honored by the nonprofit Mothers Against Drunk Driving the month prior. A photo shared on Tempe Police Department's Facebook showed Hyde standing next to Tempe Police Chief Kenneth McCoy, smiling with a crystal award in his hands at the MADD event.
Hyde is no longer employed with Tempe police, according to the department. After his arrest, Hyde was put on administrative leave, the department said. He had been with the force for two and a half years after having been an officer in New York, the department added.
Shone is being represented by personal injury lawyer Alicia Funkhouser of the Phoenix-based law firm Ely, Bettini, Ulman, Rosenblatt & Ozer.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suit: Tempe officer ran light, crashed into woman who then lost baby
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
a day ago
- CBS News
4 suspects linked to burglaries at Chicago businesses, police say; ATMs targeted or taken
Chicago police are looking for a group of four suspects they say are linked to multiple business burglaries on in the city that have targeted or taken ATMs. Police said in at least three incidents, the group have broken into stores by breaking the front glass window or door, then rummaged through the businesses to take property from inside. In one burglary, they stole a mobile ATM and a cash register, police said. In the second incident, they stole bottles of liquor and tried to take the mobile ATM but weren't able to. In each case, the suspects fled the scene in a 2018 white Kia SUV Sorrento that had been reported as stolen. The burglaries linked to these suspects happened on: Chicago police said in a fourth burglary in Evergreen Park involved suspects that matched the description of these suspects and their vehicle, but they have not formally connected it to the previous three incidents. Police had only a vague description of the burglars, saying they appear to be between 16 and 20 years old and wore black hooded sweatshirts, dark jeans and black ski masks. No one is in custody and Area Three detectives are investigating. If you have further information, contact Area Three detectives at 312-744-8263.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Police seize supercars worth £6m in anti-social driving crackdown
Police have seized supercars worth more than £6 million during a crackdown on anti-social driving. Seventy-two luxury vehicles, including Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Bentleys, were taken off the streets last weekend in an operation targeting nuisance driving in London's West End. The Metropolitan Police said the cars were either unroadworthy or being driven illegally. The operation was launched following complaints from residents, businesses and visitors about high-value cars causing disruption in and around Hyde Park, Kensington and Chelsea. Officers worked with the Motor Insurers' Bureau to issue tickets for a range of offences including driving with no insurance, no licence, disqualification, false documentation and fraudulent number plates. Several stolen vehicles were recovered, with 10 others found to have no valid MoT and 11 without road tax. Eight people were arrested for offences including actual bodily harm (ABH), criminal damage, drug offences, theft and immigration breaches. Those arrested include a 22-year-old man from Hammersmith, held for ABH and criminal damage, who was remanded in custody. Another man, aged 25 and from London, was charged with possession of a class B drug. A 27-year-old man from Watford was arrested for theft of a motor vehicle and released under investigation. A 23-year-old man from Twickenham was remanded after being arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle, dangerous driving, failing to stop for police, driving without insurance or a licence, and drug-driving. Three men, aged 26, 35 and 39, and a 23-year-old woman, all from London, were arrested on suspicion of immigration offences. Special Chief Officer James Deller said the operation responded to concerns over 'high-value vehicles causing a nuisance in known hotspot areas in central and west London'. He added: 'The Met has already reduced neighbourhood crime by 19% over recent months and we're addressing anti-social behaviour caused by uninsured drivers. 'This has been a great opportunity to work with the Motor Insurers' Bureau and for officers to speak with members of the public about the work we do, educate drivers and enforce the law.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
A mother and infant were killed in Pierce County wreck. Now driver is sentenced
A man who sped into oncoming traffic in Lakewood at upwards of 83 mph and drove his van over a sedan occupied by a family of four — killing a woman and her infant child — was sentenced Friday to about 12 years in prison. Shaun Duane Lakey, 34, was convicted in a jury trial in June of two counts of DUI vehicular homicide and DUI vehicular assault for the Sept. 22, 2023 collision at the intersection of Lakewood Drive and 74th Street West. Maria Luisa Huecias, 29, and Liam Joel Morales Huecias, 1, were killed as a result of the wreck. The woman's husband, Christian Morales Tirado, and his 7-year-old daughter were injured. Lakey had cannabis in his system, according to Pierce County Superior Court records, and he made nonsensical comments to emergency responders at the scene about being a monk and reaching nirvana. A witness also reported seeing him laugh and giggle while the driver of the vehicle he struck tried to help his wife. Prosecutors wrote in court filings that Lakey was on the phone with a woman he referred to as his girlfriend when he was driving, and he told police he felt his vehicle drifting toward a car, but he just closed his eyes and let 'it take its course.' The woman later told Lakewood police Lakey made odd comments on the phone, and she thought he was having a psychotic break or high on something and experiencing 'a terrible acid trip.' Lakey told police he'd used LSD in the past, but blood testing did not detect the drug in his system, only marijuana. A toxicology report showed that a little more than two hours after the wreck Lakey had 2.4 nanograms per milliliter of THC in his system, which is the psychoactive component of marijuana. The legal limit for motorists is 5 nanograms per milliliter. The collision occurred just before 10 p.m. as the family of four was returning home from Mary Bridge Children's Hospital, according to prosecutors, where the family had gone to get help for Liam, who was sick with a fever. Lakey was southbound on Lakewood Drive, and witnesses reported that the light was red at 74th Street when he swerved through the intersection into the opposite lanes of travel and struck the family's Honda sedan. Police later calculated that he was going between 83 and 98 mph. The Honda's roof caved in and was pried off as Lakey drove over it. The van went onto its side, slid more than 400 feet and caught fire. Prosecutors said dozens of strangers went to the two vehicles to help. Lakey was taken to a hospital for an injury to his arm and was booked into jail early the next morning. According to prosecutors, Lakey claimed in phone calls he made from jail that his vehicle's exhaust and brake lines had been tampered with, but a forensic mechanic who evaluated the van found no such issues that caused the collision. 'Defendant Lakey ignored the wellbeing of everyone else on the roadway and chose to drive while actively hallucinating from the drugs he had taken,' deputy prosecuting attorney Miriam Norman wrote in a sentencing memorandum. Judge Sabrina Ahrens sentenced Lakey, giving him a high-end sentence at the recommendation of prosecutors. Lakey had no prior felony convictions. In other news out of Superior Court Teen pleads guilty to manslaughter in fatal shooting of Tacoma boy A teenager pleaded guilty Friday for his part in the death of a 15-year-old Tacoma boy who was shot during a gun transaction that led to a fatal 'tug-of-war' over the firearm. Ziair Armani-Lee Gilbert, 17, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for the Sept. 14, 2024 homicide of Moses Tillman in the city's Eastside neighborhood. A second person charged in the shooting, a 16-year-old boy, pleaded guilty Aug. 1 in Juvenile Court to second-degree manslaughter with a firearm sentencing enhancement and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. Gilbert and the 16-year-old were originally charged with first- and second-degree murder, which meant they would automatically be prosecuted as adults due to their ages and the seriousness of those charges. The News Tribune generally only names juveniles in connection to a crime if they are charged as an adult. The 16-year-old's case was moved to Juvenile Court when his charges were amended. A sentencing hearing for both defendants was set for Aug. 22. It's unclear who fired the fatal shots. A spokesperson for the Prosecuting Attorney's Office said numerous shell casings were found at the scene, and they can't say with certainty who fired which shots. According to court records, Tacoma Police Department detectives learned through Instagram messages sent between Tillman and one of the defendants that Tillman and his cousin were meeting up with the two to buy a gun. In an interview with detectives, the cousin told police Tillman was going to trade a gun and $300 for another firearm. The cousin reportedly said one of the suspects grabbed the gun from under Tillman's arm and took it, which led to a 'tug-of-war' situation before Tillman was shot. Detectives obtained search warrants for the 16-year-old's Facebook and Instagram accounts, which showed that Gilbert posted 90 minutes after the homicide about a firearm he'd obtained, which detectives noted was a 9 mm handgun. DNA taken from expended 9 mm shell casings found at the scene were also linked to two people, including Gilbert as a 'possible association.' Final defendant sentenced for murder, robbery of woman at Puyallup park The last of three young men convicted in the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old woman in Puyallup during an apparently random robbery attempt was sentenced Friday to 17-and-a-half years in state custody. Dae'Meion Carmello Purdy, 19, pleaded guilty in July to second-degree murder and second-degree assault for the Feb. 25, 2024 killing of Gianna Stone. Purdy and Noah Loyd-Branch were driven to Sam Peach Park by Ethan Nordgren. Purdy was 17 at the time, and Loyd-Branch and Nordgren were 18. According to charging documents, Stone was with other people at the park in a BMW when the defendants approached the vehicle and pulled out handguns. They demanded the group's property, and Purdy and Loyd-Branch fired shots while the driver drove off. One bullet went through the back of the BMW and struck Stone in the head. Loyd-Branch and Nordgren were sentenced in May to about nine years and seven years, respectively, in state custody. Both pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter, and Loyd-Branch additionally pleaded guilty to second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. Purdy will begin serving his sentence in juvenile rehabilitation in the custody of the Department of Children, Youth and Families until age 25 when he would transfer to the Department of Corrections.
