State Rep. Letson sued by police officer, wife

The parties disagree on when the cruiser’s emergency lights came on.

STAFF REPORT

WARREN — A police officer who was a passenger in a patrol car that collided last September with the car of state Rep. Thomas Letson of Warren, D-64th, is suing Letson for damages.

Jason McCollum and his wife, Kasey, of Woodland Street Northeast, filed suit last week in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, seeking at least $50,000.

The suit said McCollum, passenger in a cruiser driven by Patrolman John W. Marks Jr., was severely injured during the collision, which occurred on Mahoning Avenue near School Street on Sept. 17, 2008.

The suit said McCollum was not negligent in the collision, and Marks was operating the vehicle in a “safe, lawful and prudent manner.”

Letson, however, was negligent and reckless, the lawsuit said.

The suit said the accident occurred because the Warren attorney failed to yield the right of way to an emergency vehicle.

Letson could not be reached to comment on the suit.

But just after the accident, Letson said he tried to stop his 2006 Saturn Vue when he saw the cruiser cross in front of him as he headed north on Mahoning, but he didn’t have time.

Letson added that the patrol car’s emergency lights came on only moments before the crash and that he had already put his foot hard on the brake pedal to stop when the emergency lights came on.

Robert Rohrbaugh II of Boardman, attorney for the McCollums, said his client denies that the emergency lights came on that late.

The suit seeks at least $25,000 for each of the McCollums.

A police report completed by a Trumbull County sheriff’s deputy said Marks and McCollum were in pursuit of a vehicle when the collision occurred. No one was cited in the crash.