Taxpayers are on the hook for $450,000 almost 10 years after a sheriff’s deputy racing to a bank robbery t-boned a woman’s car.
A Richmond County State Court jury found in favor of Rodriguez Bostic Feb. 7 and awarded him $600,000, according to court documents. The jury decided Sheriff Richard Roundtree, the deputy’s employer had half the responsibility for the accident. The jury placed the rest of the blame on Adrienna Tolbert, the driver.
A week later, the Augusta Commission approved a $150,000 settlement with Tolbert. Both Bostic and Tolbert were injured and sued.
According to court documents, Deputy Thomas L. King was working a special duty assignment at Augusta Technical College in 2013 when dispatchers reported a bank robbery in progress on Peach Orchard Road.
King turned right onto Lumpkin Road, floored the gas pedal but did not turn on his lights or siren. He never applied the brakes and ran into the driver’s side of Tolbert’s vehicle. Tolbert was making a left onto Lumpkin from Shelby Drive.
Bostic, represented by attorney Hank Crane, incurred more than $80,000 in medical expenses, the complaint said.
Roundtree, represented by attorney Randy Frails, attempted to add Tolbert as a defendant but was refused.
In her lawsuit, Tolbert said she incurred $130,000 in medical bills stemming from a broken jaw, punctured lung, five broken ribs and a traumatic brain injury. Her case is awaiting trial.
