State police said 17-year-old Stephen Pappadake was doing 80 mph in a 30 mph zone one morning last April in Somers, N.Y. when he illegally passed several cars in a no-passing zone, lost control of his car, swerved to avoid another vehicle, and was killed in the resulting crash of his Honda sedan. “But a lawsuit filed this month in Putnam County Court seeks to place the blame for Pappadake’s death on the driver of one of the vehicles he passed. The suit, filed on behalf of Pappadake’s estate and his parents, Robert P. and Nancy Pappadake, names a Putnam Valley woman who allegedly drove a Jeep Cherokee that Pappadake passed as the cause of the fatal crash. The lawsuit, filed by attorney Mitchel H. Ashley of the Manhattan firm of Shandell, Blitz, Blitz and Bookson, makes no mention of the police finding that Pappadake was speeding and passing cars illegally before the fatal crash. Instead, it blames Putnam Valley residents Christina Swartzwelder, who was driving the Jeep, and John Swartzwelder, who owns it.” (Terry Corcoran, “Fatal crash prompts lawsuit”, New York Journal News (Westchester County, N.Y.), Feb. 1)
Whiz, crash, sue
State police said 17-year-old Stephen Pappadake was doing 80 mph in a 30 mph zone one morning last April in Somers, N.Y. when he illegally passed several cars in a no-passing zone, lost control of his car, swerved to avoid another vehicle, and was killed in the resulting crash of his Honda sedan. “But a […]
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