Hilton Head man was killed in crash after nearby police chase. Now his sister is suing
The sister of a 22-year-old Hilton Head Island man who was killed in a car crash on U.S. 278 last year is alleging he died because of a high-speed police chase he wasn’t involved in, a lawsuit filed Wednesday said.
The wrongful death lawsuit, filed in Beaufort County by Lindsey Poirot, names the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office as the defendant and requests a jury trial. Poirot had previously filed suit against Esteban Javier Rosa-Mendez and Carlos Esteban Rosa-Mendez, accused of driving the car involved in the collision and the owner of the car, respectively.
The deadly crash
On March 2, 2020, then 19-year-old Esteban Javier Rosa-Mendez, of Hilton Head, was driving a vehicle and “disregarded a traffic light” at the intersection of Gumtree Road and U.S. 278 on the island, according to S.C. Highway Patrol. The vehicle then crashed into another car, which was pushed into a third vehicle.
Colton Poirot was driving the first car that was struck and died at the scene from his injuries, the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office previously said.
Esteban Javier Rosa-Mendez was arrested on the night of the collision and charged with driving under suspension. He was later charged with reckless homicide in Poriot’s death and failure to stop for blue lights resulting in death. He was incarcerated at the Beaufort County Detention Center as of Thursday morning.
“Colton was killed as a direct and proximate result of the negligence” of the Sheriff’s Office and its employees in the pursuit, the lawsuit reads, adding the department “is vicariously liable for the careless and reckless actions of its employees.”
New details alleged in lawsuit
The lawsuit cites dashcam footage, police interviews and call detail reports in laying out a timeline of what led to the fatal crash. Here’s what it says:
▪ 7:41:40 p.m. - A red Toyota Corolla driven by Esteban Javier Rosa-Mendez entered Hilton Head from Bluffton on U.S. 278.
▪ 7:41:55 p.m. - A deputy, referenced only by the last name Carder, who is parked in the median where the speed limit drops from 55 mph to 45 mph “executing a speed trap,” begins following the red car because it was traveling 63 mph.
▪ 7:42:02 p.m. - The red car turns onto Squire Pope Road, and the deputy tries to initiate a traffic stop. After the deputy turns on his blue lights, the red car accelerates. Then, “the deputy immediately initiates a high-speed pursuit.” The lawsuit says both vehicles reached speeds of about 70 mph on the two-lane road.
▪ 7:42:34 p.m. - After about 30 seconds, the deputy stops the pursuit.
▪ 7:45:00 p.m. - The red car fails to stop at a red light, drives into the intersection of U.S. 278 and Gumtree Road traveling roughly 80 mph, and strikes the side of the car Colton Poirot was driving.
▪ 7:54:45 p.m. - The Sheriff’s Office contacts S.C. Highway Patrol to investigate the crash. Troopers arrived on scene around 8:11 p.m. and remained there investigating through 6:14 a.m. the next morning.
The lawsuit alleges the police pursuit broke state law and Sheriff’s Office policy because it endangered life and the safety of people, therefore the deputy “carelessly and recklessly breached his duties” and the department also acted “recklessly, carelessly and negligently” especially in its hiring, training and supervision practices.
Because of her brother’s death, the plaintiff has suffered “economic loss, loss of companionship, grief and sorrow, mental anguish and emotional distress” and is asking for wrongful death damages as a result, according to the lawsuit.
A lawsuit represents only one side of a legal argument.
The Sheriff’s Office does not typically comment on pending litigation, spokesperson Maj. Bob Bromage said.
This story was originally published June 3, 2021 at 9:30 AM.
