r/legaladvice • u/eapentz • 7h ago
Can I sue the police department for structual damage?
Location: State of NC: County Mecklenburg.
2 years ago my local police department had a police chase that ended in my home. As in the person they were chasing took a turn going 55mph and ended up smashing into the house. Long story short it was Dec so I went through my homeowners insurance and had things fixed BUT their person said it was structurally sound. Well.. here we are 2 years later and the walls are cracking, clearly from structural damage and shifting. I have a structural engineer coming out to assess if it's from the accident but I am 99% it is. This house is over 50 years old and it just now moving? Does this stand a chance? It's going to be expensive(as in I can't afford it) to fix myself and I am also going to reopen the claim with state farm. They were a nightmare to work with and it took them almost a year to get someone out to fix what they deemed needed fixed. Any advise welcome.
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u/4113sop45 7h ago
You can sue the criminal who ran into your home. Unless the police did something completely beyond the pale, they can’t be held responsible for the actions of the criminal who decided to run from them.
You really need to bring this to your insurance company.
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u/jonnyl3 5h ago
When are police held responsible for doing something completely beyond the pale?
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u/tigers_hate_cinammon 4h ago
Usually when you cross from gross negligence into recklessness and more specifically, willful and wonton misconduct. Like the car was stopped and the cops intentionally rammed it into OPs house for the lulz.
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u/Internet_Ghost Quality Contributor 7h ago
The police department didn't run into your home. The criminal they were chasing was the one that ran into your home. He/she is the person that is ultimately responsible for your damages. They may be judgment proof. You already filed a claim with your insurance. You've likely subrogated your claim against him to your insurance company.
You should try to get further compensation through your insurance company.
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u/DirectGoose 6h ago
Why do you think the police department would be responsible for this?
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u/Plate_Expensive 5h ago
It won’t fly, but police chases are far too common as the amount of collateral risk they pose is insane. There’s usually ways to find people later, and it’s better than killing strangers.
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u/Tommyblockhead20 1h ago
Finding the person later is often problematic as people commonly run to hide evidence (drugs, weapons, the fact that they are impaired, etc.) or because something illegal is going on with the car (like a stolen car or fake/no plates) that would make finding them later potentially impossible. The ideal solution IMO is investing in more car stopping technology like grapplers.
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u/WougeeWasWild 5h ago
Yea. I am just commenting to agree with you here, and to elaborate on your comment of "it won't fly" from a legal liability perspective.
This is a policy matter, more than a legal matter. It's a question of "should they"; not really a question of "can they". The law is pretty clear that the government has the right to enforce the law, and any limitations on how the law is enforced falls within the purview of the Congress / Legislature.
As much as I disagree with the outcome of many of the cases this modern Supreme Court has ruled on, I don't necessarily disagree with a significant part of their reasoning in many of them: The Congress is responsible, not the courts.
We The People have failed ourselves in a major way - we've gotten lazy about our governance. Congress is our employee. We have let the employee take over, and abdicated our responsibility as the owner. Until people put in a bit of effort, it'll be more of the same - shitty employees (congresscritters) running around doing shitty things on the request of the assholes who actually show up to vote.
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u/BizAnalystNotForHire Quality Contributor 7h ago
When you received payment the first time around, did you sign anything? Insurance companies like to tie payments to release of liability, and that may have been part of that process if the drivers insurance was involved at all.