The estate of a Fife man killed last year by an eight-time felon speeding away from a Federal Way police officer has sued the City of Federal Way, the state Department of Corrections and the woman who hit him.
The wrongful-death lawsuit claims corrections officers didn’t do enough to find and arrest Virginia Ramsey for probation violations before she hit and killed Douglas Simmons III, 40, and critically injured his passenger July 26, 2010.
It also claims the Federal Way police officer should have stopped his pursuit of Ramsey, who was driving recklessly on Pacific Highway South near Milton.
A spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections said the agency doesn’t comment on pending litigation. A spokesman for the City of Federal Way said the city doesn’t comment on lawsuits.
Simmons, father of two daughters, was taking his girlfriend, Holly Mattson, to the airport shortly before 6:30 p.m. the day of the collision.
A short distance away, a witness called 911 after spotting Ramsey swerving on state Route 99 in Federal Way. The witness suspected Ramsey was intoxicated.
According to police:
A Federal Way police officer spotted Ramsey’s car in a parking lot. As the officer drove into the lot, the car passed him and went through a stop sign as it drove onto South 356th Street.
The officer followed the car as it sped south on Pacific Highway South and drifted across the lanes. Ramsey ran a red light at Porter Way and struck Simmons’ car.
Simmons was killed instantly. Mattson and Ramsey were critically injured.
Ramsey, 37, pleaded guilty this year to second-degree murder, vehicular assault and attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle. She was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison.
The lawsuit argues Ramsey should have been in custody the day of the wreck.
Ramsey, who has a series of convictions for crimes including drug possession, assault, theft and driving with a suspended license, was under state Department of Corrections supervision last year and had been classified as a high-risk offender, the lawsuit states.
Since February, she repeatedly didn’t follow conditions of her supervision. The lawsuit states that the Corrections Department failed to get a warrant for her arrest as the violations piled up.
When a warrant was issued for Ramsey on April 1, it wasn’t referred to the community response unit, which looks for violent offenders, the lawsuit states.
The agency “did not make any meaningful effort to meet, search for and/or apprehend Ramsey,” violating its own policies and procedures and the state Offender Accountability Act, states the lawsuit, which was filed last week in Pierce County Superior Court.
The lawsuit also claims the Federal Way police officer who pursued Ramsey knew or should have known he was chasing a driver who was likely to cause a wreck or endanger the public.
The suit asks for unspecified damages for, among other things, medical expenses, loss of enjoyment and destruction of the parent-child relationship.
Stacey Mulick: 253-597-8268
stacey.mulick@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/crime
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