Court clears mother to sue trooper in fatal crash

RALEIGH — The mother of a North Carolina university student killed while on a ride-along in a Highway Patrol cruiser can continue suing for gross negligence the trooper who drove off the road during a high-speed chase, the state Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.

By a 2-1 decision, judges on the court reversed a trial court’s ruling that dismissed the lawsuit filed on behalf of the late Michael Higgins seeking damages from Trooper Omar Romero Mendoza.

One night in August 2020, Mendoza drove off a Pitt County road at a curve after having been traveling over 110 mph, striking a utility pole and two trees. Higgins, 22, an East Carolina University criminal justice major enrolled in a patrol internship program, was riding in the cruiser with Mendoza and died from his injuries.

Lisa Higgins, the administrator of her son’s estate, sued Mendoza and Trooper Brandon Cesar Cruz in 2022, who had suggested to her son that he ride with Mendoza when Cruz lacked the time to do so. Superior Court Judge William Wolfe dismissed the lawsuit against the troopers in 2023. Cruz was removed from Lisa Higgins’ appeal last year.

Higgins had previously participated in two successful ride-alongs with other troopers. But neither Mendoza nor Cruz held the rank or the title required to complete one, and Higgins apparently was unaware that Mendoza wasn’t authorized to take him along, the majority opinion said.

Mendoza and Higgins responded to the scene where a car had driven off the road into a ditch. Cruz also responded to the scene and encouraged Mendoza to engage in a high-speed chase of an unidentified driver observed with an alcohol odor on her breath in the area, troopers’ statements say.

Mendoza activated his emergency lights and siren and, with Higgins as a passenger, quickly accelerated the vehicle to attempt to catch the driver. Mendoza said at a deposition that he believed the two-lane road that he was traveling on was straight. Then he saw the suspect vehicle breaking to the left, but he couldn’t recall making any related driving adjustments, Wednesday’s ruling said.

A patrol report determined Mendoza had violated patrol policy in how he initiated the “traffic enforcement response.”

Mendoza’s lawyer argued that as a government official he was exempt in the situation from personal civil liability while pursuing a criminal suspect, and that the state Industrial Commission was where claims against a state employee’s actions could be brought. Commission awards are capped.

In the majority opinion, Judge John Arrowood wrote that the speed limit exemption in a police pursuit in state law did not protect an officer from the “consequence of a reckless disregard of the safety of others.” The evidence and testimony also suggest there is a genuine issue of material fact that the trooper’s action rose to the level of gross negligence, Arrowood added.

“It should be for the jury to determine whether defendant (Mendoza)’s actions were needless or manifested a reckless indifference to the rights of Michael,” Arrowood wrote.

Judge Allegra Collins agreed with Arrowood.

In a dissenting opinion, Chief Judge Chris Dillon wrote that in the most favorable light for the plaintiff, the evidence doesn’t show Mendoza acted with gross negligence.

Though how Mendoza “exercised his discretion in his pursuit of the suspected drunk driver may have been negligent, it did not rise to the level of ‘wanton conduct,’ done with ‘corruption or malice,'” Dillon wrote.

The state Supreme Court could agree to hear the case if requested.

A lawyer representing Mendoza didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Jim White, an attorney representing Lisa Higgins, was pleased with Wednesday’s ruling, saying too many legal cases had given extreme deference to officers for their actions while wearing a uniform and traveling with blue lights on.

A jury trial would provide “vindication” to the Higgins family, White said, leading to an acknowledgement that “he never should have been in that car.”