Patrolman files suit against group home

By Ed Runyan | April 26, 2011 at 12:07a.m.

Warren Patrolman Doug Hipple

WARREN

Doug Hipple, the Warren patrolman honored for entering a burning group home on Bonnie Brae Avenue in 2009 to save three women, has sued an employee of the home and the company that ran it for failing to maintain, repair or otherwise keep the home safe.

The suit also was filed by the guardian of one of the women living in the group home, Sheree J. Egry, and the heirs of the woman who died as a result of the fire, Melissa S. Watson.

The lawsuit, filed in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, says Hipple arrived at the home to find the front porch on fire and no lights on inside.

“After pounding on the front and side doors of the house, receiving no response and fearing for the safety of anyone in the house, Patrolman Hipple forced the front door open and entered the home,” the suit said.

“Upon entering the home, Patrolman Hipple encountered defendant Shelly Johnson, who advised Patrolman Hipple that the home was a group home for women with mental challenges and that there were three women in the second-floor bedrooms.

“Prior to any firemen or additional policemen arriving, and while the house-fire was becoming more involved, Patrolman Hipple raced upstairs in an attempt to awaken and rescue the residents of the house,” the suit said.

“Defendant Shelly Johnson exited the house and did not return,” the suit said.

Johnson, of Diamond, Ohio, does not have a published phone number and could not be reached to comment.

The human-resources director for the company that operated the group home, Consumer Support Services Inc. of Newark, could not be reached to comment Monday.

Hipple got the women to come down the steps to the house, but he encountered smoke and heat which prevented him from exiting the house, so he and the residents retreated to the second floor to seek another way to leave. By now the front of the house was fully involved in flames, the suit said.

Hipple and the women later were rescued from the second floor by firefighters after all four fell unconscious.

The suit seeks monetary damages from Johnson and her employer.

Also named in the lawsuit is the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. The suit seeks a declaration that the bureau will not be in first position to receive any proceeds from the lawsuit or a declaration of the amount that the bureau should receive.