Nebraska to pay $2 million to family of woman after prisoner causes fatal crash

By ,

Published December 20, 2015

Lawmakers gave initial approval Tuesday to a $2 million settlement with the family of a woman who was struck and killed by a van driven by a prisoner in Lincoln.

Joyce Meeks, 47, was driving home from work in June when she was struck and killed by a van that had been speeding and erratically swerving before the crash. Its driver was Jeremy Dobbe, a prisoner who was en route to pick up other prisoners on work release.

The settlement, if it gets final approval and is signed by the governor, would resolve a $5 million claim against the state that Meeks’ son and husband filed in July.

Six months later, when the state claims board failed to take action on the claim, they filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the state and Dobbe, claiming he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash.

The settlement was tacked onto a budget bill Tuesday as a last-minute amendment to a bill with several state claims. Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop said the settlement was recently approved by the attorney general’s office.

Click for more from Watchdog.org.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nebraska-to-pay-2-million-to-family-of-woman-after-prisoner-causes-fatal-crash