The Yonkers City Council approved an over eight-million-dollar settlement to a caretaker of a young women permanently injured after a police car chase in 2015 that ended in two fatalities.
A fatal crash
On the evening of November 23, 2015, Yonkers police engaged in a high-speed pursuit of a stolen white 1997 Dodge Ram van. A 911 call that afternoon reported that the van’s occupants were breaking into parking meters on Schroeder Street. The stolen van was linked to a strong-armed robbery about an hour prior. Officers attempted to pull the vehicle over to no avail. The van then continued traveling from North Broadway to Warburton, just south of Odell Avenue and the Greystone Train Station.
The chase reached speeds of 90 miles-per-hour. But, it came to an abrupt and fatal end when the van crossed a double yellow line. The northbound traveling van crashed directly into a Hyundai Sonata traveling southbound.
Police arrived just seconds later to discover the driver of the Sonata, 46-year-old Sharlene Stinson, dead at the scene. Sharlene left behind a young son and worked at S.A.I.L. at Ferncliff Manor as an occupational therapy aide for severely disabled children. She had just left work that evening and was four miles away from her home.
The occupants of the van were revealed as two teenagers, 16 and 14 years old. Emergency services transferred the two teenagers to Westchester County Medical Center in critical condition. Unfortunately, the 16-year-old driver, Jerry Crawford, did not survive his injuries.
The 14-year-old female, now 22, sustained a traumatic brain injury and requires 24-hour care at a rehabilitation facility for the rest of her life. According to her guardian’s attorney, she is unable to perform even basic tasks independently.
The settlement
Years after the incident, the City of Yonkers eventually reached a civil settlement with Christine Vargas; caretaker of the surviving victim, Sha’de Lane. To cover not only the existing expenses and indefinite care for the victim, multiple parties shall receive their portion of the $8.5 million sum. The allocation breaks down as:
- $500,000.00 to pay an existing Medicaid lien.
- $500,000.00 to cover a loss of services claim to caretaker, Christine Vargas.
- $2,801,379.99 for attorney’s fees.
- $1,448,620.01 for a Supplemental Needs Trust for the victim, Sha’de Lane.
- $3,250,000.00 to three structured settlement annuities for Sha’de Lane.
The family of the deceased Sharlene Stinson also filed a lawsuit in 2016. Their complaint claimed that the police had a reckless disregard for public safety. That cased settled last year for $1.5 million.
The Tuesday night City Council meeting saw newly-minted Majority Leader John Rubbo lead the session in City Council President Lakisha Collins-Bellamy’s absence. Republican Council Member of the sixth District, Anthony Merante, was the lone speaker on this item. While acknowledging the tragedy of the event, he implored parents to “make sure you know who your kids are with.” He continued with a full-throated support of law enforcement asserting that, “police didn’t do anything wrong that night […] those kids made a big mistake.” And he concluded that it’s unfortunate that the “taxpayers in the city of Yonkers are going to have to pay the price for our police officers doing their job.”
The vote was held and the payment of $8.5 million was unanimously approved, 6-0.
