accident in which cop
struck, killed pedestrian
Victim’s brother
settles with town
Lakewood will pay for
accident in which cop
struck, killed pedestrian
By joyce blay
Staff Writer
Eleven months after former Lakewood police officer Wayne Truex accidentally struck and killed Lester Eldridge, 65, of Elmhurst, N.Y., a settlement has been reached in the $5 million lawsuit filed by Stephen Eldridge, the victim’s brother.
Truex was driving his marked police car on Clifton Avenue as Eldridge was crossing the street late in the evening of Aug. 30, 2002.
"I filed the lawsuit against [Lakewood] and [Truex]," said Jeffrey H. Ward, the Matawan attorney who represented Stephen Eldridge. "[Then] I mailed a copy of the claim to Scibal Associates, a claims adjuster [for Lakewood], which evaluated the claim. They called [attorney] Guy Ryan, and we sat down about six weeks ago and settled. It was pretty amicable."
Ryan is an associate with Township Attorney Stephen Secare’s office.
Ward, who spoke with the Tri-Town News on July 25, said the settlement had been finalized the week before, although no payment has yet been made.
When Lakewood Township Committee-man Charles Cunliffe, who is the governing body’s liaison to the police department, was asked to comment on the settlement, he expressed surprise and anger at hearing the news.
Cunliffe said no one had informed him of the arrangement during the committee’s executive session meeting held July 24.
"I cannot make any comment until I have conferred with the township manager and the township counsel," Cunliffe said.
Police department spokesman Capt. Rob Lawson also declined comment and said he knew nothing of the settlement either.
Lawson said he did not think Public Safety Director Mark Dorsey would comment on the matter since he was not an employee of the township at the time of the incident.
Dorsey succeeded former Police Chief Michael J. Lynch, who retired at the end of 2002.
Ward declined to say exactly how much Eldridge will receive as part of the agreement, but said it was significantly lower than the $5 million for which his client had asked.
"The award, which goes to the victim’s estate, is based on two factors: conscious pain and suffering of the [victim]," said Ward, who hired a forensic doctor to determine how long Eldridge suffered before he died. "He probably saw the car coming for a couple of seconds [before it] hit him, [and] he was knocked on the ground and blacked out. He might have been alive for a couple of hours, but he was unconscious, and the law only allows you to collect if you are aware of the pain."
Ward said the agreement to settle was based on a realistic assessment of the dead man’s value to his surviving relative, called pecuniary damages, as well as the amount of pain he may have experienced after the impact.
"In this case, the person who died had no dependents, he was divorced with no kids and only his brother survived him," Ward said. "[He had no dependents] and he was 65. If he had been 35, [the award] would have been [higher]."
Ward also said that Eldridge, a retired teacher who was living in a rented apartment in Queens, N.Y., had been able to save some money and that the modest estate he had left, plus the settlement, would all go to his brother.
Although the settlement resolves the issue of civil liability, Truex, now 50, a veteran with 18 years of service on the force before being fired Nov. 21, 2002, still wants his job back.
Truex was fired after having admitting to police at the accident scene on Aug. 30 that he had had several beers earlier in the day, then denied making the admission when questioned by Internal Affairs officers on Sept. 2. Ward said Truex is seeking to be reinstated as a police officer and that there will be an administrative hearing on the matter in the near future.
"Truex was named in the lawsuit, so this settlement takes care of his [civil] responsibility," Ward said. "I don’t know if he will get his job back. It’s up to the judge. It’s an administrative law [issue] that is being litigated with Secare’s office."
Lawson declined comment, citing it as a personnel matter.