RALEIGH, N.C. — The mother of a North Carolina college student killed while riding in a Highway Patrol cruiser can continue to sue, alleging gross negligence by the officer who went off the road during a high-speed chase, an appeals court ruled Wednesday.
In a 2-1 decision, mid-level appeals court judges 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 — known in patrol documents as Romero — drove around a curve on a Pitt County road after traveling more than 110 miles per hour, hitting a utility pole and two trees. Higgins, 22, a principal criminal justice researcher at East Carolina University who was enrolled in a patrol internship program and in the cruiser with Romero, died of his injuries.
Lisa Higgins, the administrator of her son’s estate, sued both Romero and Trooper Brandon Cesar Cruz in 2022, who suggested her son ride with Romero when Cruz didn’t have time. Supreme Court Justice William Wolfe dismissed the lawsuit against both troopers in 2023. Cruz was removed from Lisa Higgins’ appeal last year.
Higgins had previously participated in two successful rides with other patrol officers. But neither Romero nor Cruz had the rank or title to complete one — something Higgins apparently wasn’t aware of at the time, according to the majority opinion.
Romero and Higgins responded to the scene where a car had gone off the road into a ditch. Cruz also responded to the scene and encouraged Romero to engage in a high-speed pursuit of an unknown driver in the area who was observed with an odor of alcohol on her breath, according to the trooper’s statements.
Romero activated his emergency lights and siren and with Higgins as a passenger, he quickly accelerated the vehicle in an attempt to catch the driver. Romero said in a statement that he saw the suspect veer to the left, but believed the two-lane road he was traveling on was straight. A patrol report found that Romero violated patrol policy in the manner in which he initiated the “traffic enforcement response.”
Romero’s attorney argued that as a government official, Romero was exempt from personal civil liability while pursuing a crime suspect, and that the state Industrial Commission was the venue for bringing claims against a state employee’s actions. Commission awards are limited.
In the majority opinion, Court of Appeals Judge John Arrowood wrote that the speed limit exemption in a police pursuit did not protect an officer from the “consequences of a reckless disregard for the safety of others.” And the evidence and testimony suggest there is a genuine issue of material fact that the trooper’s action rose to the level of gross negligence, he added.
“It should be up to the jury to determine whether Defendant Romero’s actions were unnecessary or demonstrated reckless indifference to Michael’s rights,” Arrowood wrote.
Court of Appeal Judge Allegra Collins agreed with Arrowood. In a dissent, Court of Appeals Chief Judge Chris Dillon wrote that in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, the evidence does not show that Romero acted with gross negligence.
Although the manner in which Romero “exercised his discretion in his pursuit of the suspected drunk driver was negligent, it did not rise to the level of ‘wanton conduct’ done with ‘corruption or malice,’” Dillon added.
The state Supreme Court could hear the case if requested.
An attorney representing Romero did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Jim White, an attorney representing Lisa Higgins, was pleased with Wednesday’s ruling, saying too many lawsuits had shown extreme deference to officers for their actions while wearing uniforms and traveling with blue lights on.
A jury trial would provide the Higgins family with “vindication,” White said, leading to an admission that “he should never have been in that car.”