Latest news with #SheriffoftheYear
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
GA Sheriff's Assoc. selects Barrow Co. sheriff for statewide honor
The Georgia Sheriff's Association has selected Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith as the 2025 Sheriff of the Year. Sheriff Smith will be honored at the GSA Summer Conference on August 6. The Barrow County Sheriff's Office praised Smith on its Facebook page, saying: 'It's clear our perspective on Sheriff Smith may be influenced by our experiences, yet he consistently demonstrates remarkable leadership, day in and day out, year after year. His dedication to the Barrow County community is unmatched, and his ability to connect with people from all walks of life has fostered a sense of trust and respect. Sheriff Smith is not only committed to upholding the law but also ensuring the safety and well-being of every citizen and visitor of our county. His innovative approaches to law enforcement have led to plenty of successful initiatives aimed at improving community relations, reducing crime, and implementing effective crime prevention strategies.' [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] TRENDING STORIES: Trump announces travel ban and restrictions on 19 countries set to go into effect Monday Case of mistaken identity ends with young mother killed in alleged Atlanta gang shooting Doorbell camera captures man dragging dog down street in Fulton County [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Yahoo
Attorney in St. Paul construction site death settlement: If rules were followed, ‘Pete would still be here.'
After a 61-year-old worker was fatally struck by a dump truck operator at a construction site in downtown St. Paul, a law firm found the operator was under the influence of drugs and safety protocols had not been followed, they announced Wednesday. The widow of Pete M. Davis has reached an $8.5 million settlement with the concrete company that employed the truck's operator, court documents show. Davis, of Stillwater, worked for St. Paul Regional Water Services for more than 40 years before he retired at the end of July 2022 and went to work in the private sector. On Sept. 28, 2022, he was working for a contracting company. The 23-year-old operator of a loaded dump truck, owned by another company, Ti-Zack Concrete Inc., was backing up at a construction site on Wabasha Street just south of East Seventh Street. Davis was crushed by the truck and died at the scene. Kristi Davis filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Ti-Zack Concrete Inc. in Ramsey County District Court in April 2023. An attorney for Ti-Zack Concrete, which is based in Le Center, Minn., said Wednesday they have no comment. The lawsuit alleged that Ti-Zack Concrete didn't adequately train the driver, developed no written backup plan, didn't use a spotter and improperly installed a backup alarm. SiebenCarey Personal Injury Law 'uncovered a history of backing accidents' that the concrete company didn't address, the firm said in a statement. The firm found 'serious failures' on the part of the concrete company, including 'drug use by the driver of the truck, destruction of evidence and negligence in drug testing and other safety protocols' said attorney Jeffrey Sieben, who represented Davis' wife of 35 years, Kristi Davis. 'In other words, if the rules would have been followed, Pete would still be here.' Ramsey County District Court Judge Mark Ireland wrote in a September order that the truck's operator was seen using a cellphone immediately after Davis died and that he texted a friend, 'I'm f—–.' The operator tested positive that day for cocaine and marijuana. Kristi Davis addressed the court at a hearing last month about the settlement. She said it couldn't bring her husband back, but 'we hope to begin to move forward in rebuilding our lives around the hole that can never be replaced, as well as to have set into motion improved safety measures by the company to prevent this traumatic event from occurring.' Davis' legal team sent a preservation letter to Ti-Zack Concrete in November 2022, saying the operator's cellphone must be kept and the operator had to be notified. A week after the operator met with his attorneys in June 2023, his cellphone was broken — he said at his deposition that it slipped out of his pocket in a skid loader. Crime & Public Safety | Burnsville first responder shootings: Public invited to pay respects on 1-year anniversary Crime & Public Safety | St. Croix County's Scott Knudson named Wisconsin Sheriff of the Year Crime & Public Safety | ICE raids hit apartment buildings in Aurora, Denver; feds say they're targeting Tren de Aragua gang Crime & Public Safety | Growing Newport getting another full-time deputy Crime & Public Safety | Police seek public's help finding vehicle believed to be in area of Hastings where body found He traded in the cellphone under an insurance plan and 'the now 'broken' phone' that the operator 'was obligated to preserve cannot be found or traced,' Ireland wrote. 'The possible damages for civil liability are very high,' Ireland wrote. For the operator, since he tested positive for drugs and because Davis' attorneys believed his cellphone 'may reveal' he was 'actively using the phone and distracted while driving the dump truck,' evidence from the phone 'may result in a charge of manslaughter or vehicular homicide as well as the loss of a commercial driver's license,' Ireland added. The operator was not criminally charged. St. Paul police noted in a report that officers did not observe signs of impairment, and they didn't seek drug or alcohol testing. There are commercial motor vehicle requirements for drug testing and, when the operator was released to his employer, they took him to Regions Hospital for drug testing, Sieben said. That is not a medical review officer, which is the required testing agent, and Sieben said his team couldn't analyze the drug testing as a result. Part of the settlement included money for the agony suffered by Davis from the moment he was first struck to the time he lost consciousness and died, Sieben said. It stems from a new state law about pain prior to death in wrongful death cases. An independent accident scene reconstructionist, who reviewed surveillance video, wrote in an affidavit filed in the case that Davis became aware of the dump truck approaching from behind, and was seen turning his head and raising his arm 1.5 seconds before he was struck. The truck pushed him face first to the ground for 0.5 second, and then crushed him face down from his boots up for 1.2 seconds of consciousness before his death. The insurance company of Ti-Zack Concrete is responsible for paying the settlement, which will go to Davis' relatives and attorneys and experts who worked on the case. Davis grew up in North St. Paul. The fourth of five siblings, he followed his older brothers to the neighborhood outdoor hockey rink and they played for hours. He was a lifelong hockey player and passed his love of hockey onto his two daughters, whom he coached in North St. Paul. He and Kristi, whose anniversary was two days before his death, also have three grandchildren. During his decades at St. Paul Regional Water Services, 'he always answered the call with main breaks or anything,' Kristi Davis said. 'He was a true public servant.' 'His colleagues and individuals that worked with him over his 40-year career were just shocked when they heard that it was Pete who had been run over by the dump truck because he was so experienced and so familiar with all of the safety protocols,' she said Wednesday. Crime & Public Safety | Light snow and slick roads possible Wednesday night, but a bigger system ahead Crime & Public Safety | Downtown restaurant and event space, formerly Pazzaluna and Momento, to be sold at auction Crime & Public Safety | St. Paul Downtown Airport increased operations in 2024, improvements on the horizon Crime & Public Safety | Judge allows alleged St. Paul shooter to withdraw guilty plea in 2023 killing, citing a pre-plea 'mistake' Crime & Public Safety | St. Paul-manufactured 1915 motorcycle sells for record $1.32M, topping 1908 Harley-Davidson sale in 2023 One of Kristi Davis' requests in the settlement, which was agreed to, was that Ti-Zack Concrete Inc. hire a new safety director. They also asked that during training for new drivers, they're shown video of the accident up to the point of the impact. Pete Davis was a mentor to those he worked with. 'When he walked in a room, you knew it,' Kristi Davis said. 'We couldn't take him anywhere where he didn't know someone, and even if he didn't, he made fast friends.' He was passionate about youth sports, clean water and outdoor and environmental education. Kristi Davis started the Peter M. Davis Foundation to continue his community service, and proceeds from a golf tournament last year went to the Herb Brooks Foundation.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Yahoo
Oakland County Sheriff Bouchard reflects on D.C. tragedy during flight home
OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) - The tragedy in Washington D.C., where a plane crashed into a helicopter near Reagan National Airport, has already hit close to home for many, including Southeast Michigan. Local perspective Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard was in the air—flying from D.C. to Detroit as the deadly collision happened at Reagan National Airport. Bouchard said his time in D.C. this week was memorable as he was named 'Sheriff of the Year' by the Major County Sheriffs of America. When the meetings wrapped on Wednesday, Bouchard headed to Reagan National Airport to catch a flight to Detroit. "Actually, kind of in a bizarre, chilling way, I was headed to the airport and I looked at the Potomac River and I thought 'oh it's got an icecap over it.' It's probably unusual here because they're a little more temperate than Michigan," he said. As he was on his plane heading, American Airlines Flight 5342 and a military Blackhawk helicopter collided over the Potomac. Bouchard says his loved ones and colleagues were texting him when it happened. But he had no idea what happened until he landed back in Metro Detroit. "I think there were a lot of people that were relieved to receive a response back. You know I imagine if you had a friend or a loved one on that plane that did go down and you'd send them a text it would be radio silent," he said. "That's not a great feeling." He says the crash is hard to wrap his mind around as they've got two helicopters at the sheriff's office and wonder how the tragedy occurred with all the safety technology. "Even when you're coming into different sections or landing it senses or knows certain things are in the area, and you'll hear it audibly bark. I think the words it uses is traffic, traffic, traffic," he said. Bouchard says he expects the National Transportation Safety Board and other investigators to examine the black boxes and determine what happened. "Why that helicopter and that plane were both in the same spot at the same time which is obviously rule 101 for air traffic safety, is not to have that happen," he said. What we know Hundreds of responders have removed at least 28 bodies from the icy waters of the Potomac River. According to the Associated Press, the crash occurred in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over three miles (4.8 kilometers) south of the White House and the Capitol. The Blackhawk helicopter involved in the crash was reportedly based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, according to a defense official speaking on condition of anonymity.
