The Adams County sheriff’s deputy who crashed his patrol car into a pedestrian on North Federal Boulevard last year was driving while distracted and should have been able to avoid killing the man, his family claims in a new lawsuit.
Deputy Stefan Pivic struck and killed 53-year-old Anthony Chavez just before 3 a.m. on September 13, 2023 in the 5800 block of North Federal Boulevard near Interstate 76.
Chavez was in the middle of the road when Pivic struck him at 33 mph, according to the lawsuit Chavez’s wife, Sangeeta Apodaca, filed Thursday against the deputy and the Adams County Sheriff’s Office.
The lawsuit alleges Pivic looked to his right onto 58th Avenue and a light shone down that street even though he was driving straight on North Federal Boulevard. The deputy looked into the street because a person had fled from a “suspicious vehicle” in that area earlier in the evening, the lawsuit alleges.
If Pivic had looked where he was going, the deputy would have seen Chavez — who was wearing light jeans and a red jacket and leaning over in the center lane of North Federal — and could have avoided the crash, the lawsuit alleges. .
“If he had been looking where he was going, there is enough time, with an average reaction time, to stop or at least take evasive action,” said attorney Virginia Hill Butler, who filed the lawsuit with Denver law firm Rathod Mohamedbhai . .
An investigation into the crash by the 17th Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team concluded the opposite: that even if Pivic had seen Chavez, he could not have stopped in time to prevent the crash, according to a three-page letter. Mason wrote in June to explain why he had not filed criminal charges against Pivic.
“The investigation revealed that Deputy Pivic could not have avoided striking Mr. Chavez,” Mason wrote.
The deputy admitted that he had “taken a quick look to the right” before the crash, Mason wrote. Chavez had stopped in the middle of the road; An autopsy showed he was under the influence of fentanyl and methamphetamine, Mason wrote. Pivic was driving under the posted speed limit of 45 mph, Mason noted.
Pivic was placed on paid administrative leave after the crash and has since returned to work in a regular capacity. Adams County Sheriff’s Sgt. Adam Sherman said Monday.
Sherman noted that Pivic “was exonerated” by the internal investigation. “As far as the civil lawsuits are concerned, we cannot talk about an active case,” he said.
Chavez’s wife claims in the lawsuit that Pivic drove through two traffic lights after hitting Chavez before turning around, returning to the crash site and radioing for a supervisor and an ambulance.
She also claims the deputy drove recklessly that night and turned off his body-worn camera after the crash, violating state law. The complaint lists five minor traffic violations Pivic committed in the seven minutes before the crash, including drifting between lanes, crossing the shoulder line and making an illegal U-turn.
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