ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE ATTORNEYS FOR AMICI CURIAE
Kelly Whiteman Terry A. White Indiana Association of Cities and Towns
Office of Corporation Counsel Jill Dewig Wesch Jon Laramore
Indianapolis, Indiana Olsen, White & Hambidge, LLP Baker & Daniels, LLP
Evansville, Indiana Indianapolis, Indiana
The Indiana Trial Lawyers Association
Patrick B. McEuen
Millbranth & Bush
Valparaiso, Indiana
______________________________________________________________________________
In the
Indiana Supreme Court
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No. 49S00-0602-CV-55
CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND
+INDIANAPOLIS POLICE DEPARTMENT, Appellants (Defendants be-
low),
V.
RICHARD GARMAN, Appellee (Plaintiff below).
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Appeal from the Marion Superior Court, No. 49D10-0006-CT-852
The Honorable David Dreyer, Judge
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On Petition For Transfer Before Consideration by the Indiana Court of Appeals
No. 49A02-0510-CV-955
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June 14, 2006
Dickson, Justice.
In accord with our decision today in Patrick v. Miresso, ___ N.E.2d ___ (Ind. 2006), we
affirm the denial of summary judgment and hold that a governmental unit is not immune from
liability for injuries caused by its police officer's negligent operation of a police vehicle while
pursuing a fleeing suspect.
On November 7, 1999, the plaintiff Richard Garman was injured in a collision at 38th
and Meridian in Indianapolis when his automobile was struck by a vehicle allegedly operated by
a fleeing suspect being pursued by Indianapolis Police Officer Rob Rider in a high-speed chase
along 38th Street. Garman's fiancée, a passenger in his car, was killed in the collision. In re-
sponse to the plaintiff's complaint, the defendants sought summary judgment asserting the Indi-
ana Tort Claims Act and its provision that provides immunity to governmental entities for losses
resulting from the "enforcement of . . . a law." See Ind. Code § 34-13-3-3(8). Largely resting
upon our decision in Quakenbush v. Lackey, 622 N.E.2d 1284 (Ind. 1993), the trial court found
that "police chases are not immune from liability" and denied summary judgment, Appellant's
App'x. at 18, but granted the defendants' request for certification for interlocutory appeal.
The defendants brought this appeal, challenging the trial court's refusal to apply the Tort
Claims Act enforcement immunity. They seek to avoid this Court's decision in Quakenbush,
urging that its analysis was faulty, and that it has since been undermined by King v. Northeast
Security, Inc., 790 N.E.2d 474 (Ind. 2003), and Benton v. City of Oakland City, 721 N.E.2d 224
(Ind. 1999). The Court of Appeals accepted the appeal, and we granted the defendants' motion
requesting that we take immediate jurisdiction to consider this case in conjunction with our con-
sideration of the then-pending transfer petition in Patrick. Ind. Appellate Rule 56(A). The par-
ties to the present case each acknowledged at oral argument that the immunity issue presented in
this case is the same as that presented in Patrick.
In our decision today in Patrick, we discuss King and Benton, concluding that these deci-
sions do not impair or undermine our decision in Quakenbush, and we emphasize the legisla-
ture's acquiescence to Quakenbush. In Patrick, we reassert the viability of the holding in
Quakenbush that the Tort Claims Act "'enforcement of . . . a law' immunity does not shield gov-
ernmental entities and personnel from liability resulting from a breach of the statutory duty to
operate emergency vehicles 'with due regard for the safety of all persons.'" Patrick, ___ N.E.2d
at ___, slip op. at 5 (quoting Ind. Code § 9-21-1-8(d)(1)).
In accord with Patrick and Quakenbush, we affirm the denial of summary judgment.
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Shepard, C.J., and Sullivan, Boehm, and Rucker, JJ., concur.
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