Adapted from Times Herald-Record

By Oliver Mackson

October 04, 2009

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CITY OF NEWBURGH — The city has paid $350,000 to settle a lawsuit by a Poughkeepsie woman who suffered disabling injuries in a collision with a police car three years ago.

Tracey L. Day was driving up Grand Street when Officer Jamal Lewis responded to a shots-fired call nearby. He put his police car into reverse on the one-way street to get onto Broadway and pursue the shooter's car.

In his deposition, Lewis said he didn't use his car's rearview mirrors or look over either shoulder out the car before he put the vehicle into reverse, sending him on a collision course with Day's car. The city argued that was a "momentary judgment lapse" and didn't rise to a level of recklessness that warranted a trial. The city contended the suit should be summarily dismissed.

But acting state Supreme Court Justice Robert Onofry, in a March 4 decision, ruled the facts of the case didn't entitle the city to a dismissal before a trial. Onofry also ruled that without a trial, Day wasn't entitled to a judgment that the officer was liable for her injuries. She couldn't return to work at her manufacturing job at IBM, and she suffered debilitating injuries to her back and one of her knees.

Onofry's ruling led to months of negotiations between Day's lawyer, Stewart Rosenwasser, and Hobart Simpson, the lawyer who represented the city. The city cut a $350,000 check about two weeks ago, according to documents that are part of the case.

Lewis no longer works for the city. In his deposition for the case, he said that in January 2008, after six years with the city, he took a job with the police department in Rockville, Md.