A Maryland woman won a $3 million verdict against a Prince George’s County police officer who severely injured her in a 2008 car accident while driving his county-issued vehicle. Robert Edward Lee, 32, who works undercover in the Narcotics Enforcement Division, was not on duty at the time of the wreck, said his attorney, Daniel Karp. Attorneys for both sides said Lee veered his county-leased car onto the wrong side of the road in Calvert County, crashing into the vehicle driven by Carlisa Kent, a Prince Frederick woman.
“The accident was a tragedy for everybody involved,” Karp said. “Neither the plaintiff nor my client remember it.”
Karp said Lee was on a personal errand, having just dropped his kids off, when the accident occurred.
“We don’t know exactly what happened, but we think he was in heavy traffic on a rural road,” Karp said. “We think from the witness that he hit a car that was slowing or stopping in front of him. And then that caused him to go across the center line, where he struck the plaintiff.”
Lee violated police rules by driving the county-issued vehicle out of Prince George’s County without permission, said police spokesman Cpl. Evan Baxter. He’s still employed by the department, though it’s not clear whether Lee was punished for the incident, as personnel files are sealed from the public. Lee, through Baxter, also declined to comment for this story.
Bruce Plaxen, Kent’s attorney, said the woman had surgery on both knees and also fractured her right foot, her left hip and pelvic area in the accident. She could not be reached for comment.
A judge threw out her suit against Prince George’s County because the narcotics officer was not on duty at the time. Plaxen said that ruling meant the county has no responsibility other than to insure the vehicle driven by Lee.
The $3.1 million judgment will be reduced to just over $2 million because of state lawsuit damage caps, he said. And if Lee declares bankruptcy, Kent might not get more than $20,000 in insurance from the county and $30,000 from her own car insurance.
“In terms of satisfying this judgment, there’s very little available for her,” Karp said. “When you have a horrible accident, it’s not unusual that there’s not enough assets for you to compensate. It’s just a sad truth.”
