Crash Victim's Family Sues Dearborn, Ordinance Officer (courtesy of WXYZ-TV
William Owen was killed in a car crash on February 17 just as he was leaving work.
The wreckage of a deadly crash blamed on an officer who crossed the line of his duty is this landing in court. The family of William Owen is suing for justice to make the city of Dearborn pay for his death.
Attorney Geoffrey Fieger is putting a quarter of a billion dollar price tag on the lawsuit. He says it's intended to send a message that police agencies must control what he calls the reckless conduct of their officers.
Fieger and William Owen's family say they should be held accountable for Gary Seiko's reckless behavior.
"Just put him in this police car and gave him the right of way to do what he did, and I feel that's totally unjust," said Maureen Coe, Owen's mother.
Dearborn Ordinance Officer Argon "Gary" Seiko is suspended without pay pending the results of the investigation.
Coe says the city of Dearborn was wrong to ever put the ordinance officer behind the wheel of the squad car that are hit and killed her son. Owen was killed February 17 when Argon "Gary" Seiko went through a red light on Rotunda, broadsiding Owen's Volkswagen as he left a Ford parking lot.
"I am greatly saddened. All his friends and family are," said Coe.
Owen's family is suing Seiko and the city of Dearborn for $250 million. They say Seiko was wrong and the city was wrong to ever put a parking ticket officer in a patrol car.
"Though I'm quite certain it was against the rules, I'm quite certain that he hasn't been trained. I'm quite certain that he's not permitted to engage in this behavior, I'm also quite certain that he is not doing so completely without the knowledge of other police officers or supervisors. In other words, he wasn't just some renegade, he was in a police car. What's he even doing in a police car in that location?" Fieger said.
Friends say Owen was especially good with children.
"My 13-year-old wrote a little poem for him, and one thing he said was, 'When my heart weighs a ton, you helped me have fun.' And that's Bill. He was always there," said Shirley Daily, victim's friend.
Seiko is suspended without pay pending the outcome of the investigation. Fieger said any normal person would face at least negligent homicide charges for this.
The Michigan State Police say it will be at least two weeks before they finish their investigation. Seiko's attorney isn't commenting, nor is the city of Dearborn.