Mother of daughter killed by cop files civil suit

October 22, 2008 - 6:17pm

The mother of a woman killed in a car accident by a Fairfax County police officer is filing a civil lawsuit after the officer was acquitted of reckless driving last month.

On Feb. 12, 2008, 22-year-old police officer Amanda Perry drove through a Hybla Valley intersection on her way to a call, when her vehicle collided with a car being driven by 33-year-old Ashley McIntosh, ejecting McIntosh from her vehicle. McIntosh was then hit by the spinning vehicle while on the ground and died the next day.

When the accident occurred, Perry had her emergency lights on but had not engaged her siren. She was charged with reckless driving four months later, according to court records.

McIntosh, or "Miss Mac" as she was called by her kindergarten students, was a teacher's aide. She had recently become engaged to her boyfriend of eight years.

February 12 was the day of the Virginia presidential primary and McIntosh was pulling out of the Mount Vernon Plaza shopping center on Richmond Highway after having voted. "She died with an 'I have voted' sticker on her sweater," said her mother, Cindy Colasanto.

February 12 is probably best remembered by northern Virginians as the day that an ice storm created major traffic delays and caused problems for motorists at the Mixing Bowl and other local highways.

In court on Sept. 18, Fairfax County Police Officer Chad Burrough testified that he responded to the Feb. 12 accident around 5:30 p.m. that day, just minutes after it occurred. "It was a cold, rainy day," he said. In his testimony, he further characterized the weather as a "mixture" of wet and icy conditions.

Experts estimate that Perry's vehicle was traveling between 38 to 44 miles per hour when the impact occurred.

A witness, Roberta Morris, testified that "the police car seemed to be going faster than traffic goes on Richmond Highway. Which I think ...is about 45-50 miles an hour. So it seemed faster than that, like maybe 60 miles an hour."

"The police car was going very fast, fast enough for me to think that it was on its way to some type of emergency," another witness, Harriet Jackson, also testified. Jackson added that she did not see the police car's brake lights come on at any point.

Perry testified that she attempted to engage her siren but that "it did not come on." She further testified that she did not see Ashley's Toyota Corolla until she was already over the intersection's painted stop bar. "At that point I literally saw her come out of nowhere," she testified.

On Sept. 18, due to Fairfax County judges recusing themselves, Stafford County General District Judge Sarah L. Denke heard the case. Denke ruled that the evidence did not rise to "a level sufficient to find this defendant guilty of reckless driving."

But Colasanto has announced that she will be filing a civil suit against Perry. "I would like to make clear that a civil claim is being pursued," she said. "So that a jury, after hearing all the evidence, will determine whether Amanda Perry is responsible for Ashley's preventable death."

Colasanto is also pursuing legislation that would make it state law for emergency vehicles to slow down and engage their sirens at all intersections .

Colasanto claims that Perry has not apologized or initiated any contact with the family to date. "You generally apologize for something as minor as stepping on someone's toe, just as a common courtesy," remarked David Heller, McIntosh's brother-in-law.