MORGANTOWN – A Morgantown woman is suing the West Virginia State Police after she claims it is responsible for a vehicle accident.
Trooper C.J. Berry was also named as a defendant in the suit.
On May 19, 2014, Deanna L. Carter was lawfully operating a motor vehicle traveling east on Pierpont Road and was stopped at the intersection of Pierpont Road and Cherrywood Drive in Morgantown when Berry, who was operating a WVSP police cruiser, failed to stop at the intersection and drove the cruiser into the back of Carter’s vehicle, according to a complaint filed May 18 in Monongalia Circuit Court.
Carter claims Berry had a duty to operate the cruiser with due care and breached that duty when he failed to stop at the intersection.
As a direct and proximate cause of the defendants’ negligence, Carter suffered a concussion; a suspected spinal cord contusion; a cervical strain; a chest wall contusion; dizziness; pain in her right and left shoulders; numbness and tingling radiating down her right and left arms; severe headaches; and muscle spasms, according to the suit.
Carter claims she continues to suffer chronic pain, including headaches for which she has no pharmacological therapy options; a very tender scalp; an inability to sleep and rest at night; an unresolved rotary fixation of her neck and cockrobin position of her head; and sensitivity to light.
The incident has also caused Carter annoyance and inconvenience; loss of enjoyment of life; mental anguish; and various other damages, according to the suit.
Carter is seeking compensatory damages with pre- and post-judgment interest. She is being represented by David M. Jecklin of Gianola, Barnum, Becktel & Jecklin LC.
Monongalia Circuit Court case number: 16-C-301
