Left inset: Michael Keen (Pamela Martin/WFTS). Right inset: The Dodge Charger patrol car that Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Deputy Devin Wooden was driving when he crashed into Vietnam War veteran Michael Keen in 2021 (John Castro/WFTS). Background: The scene of the 2021 crash involving Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Deputy Devin Wooden and Michael Keen (WFTS/YouTube).
A widow from Florida is gearing up for a court showdown in a civil lawsuit against the local sheriff’s department, accusing it of being “vicariously liable” for a tragic accident involving a deputy that claimed the life of her 74-year-old spouse. The lawsuit contends that the deputy was speeding at 97 mph in a 50 mph zone without using emergency lights or sirens while responding to an incident involving a school bus at around 7:30 a.m.
Attorney John Castro, representing the widow Pamela Martin, expressed to ABC affiliate WFTS that the situation did not warrant such reckless driving. “Would anyone else have been excused for driving that fast and hitting someone?” Castro queried.
Martin’s lawsuit against the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office stems from the loss of her husband, Michael Keen, a Vietnam veteran and retired commercial truck driver, who succumbed to his injuries a week after the crash on February 26, 2021.
“They took him off life support, and he passed within the hour,” Martin recounted. “Why would they permit deputies to reach nearly twice the speed limit on a busy morning street?”
The complaint and court documents filed by Castro and Martin claim that HCSO Deputy Devin S. Wooden was “negligently” driving a 2015 Dodge Charger patrol car when he collided with Keen, who was traveling east on State Road 60 in his 1996 Toyota T100 pickup.
Keen was in the process of turning left onto Currie Davis Drive when Wooden, speeding west on State Road 60, “crashed directly into the side of Keen’s vehicle,” causing severe harm to Keen and significant damage to his truck. The lawsuit states that Wooden was “traveling at approximately 97 mph, without lights and/or sirens,” when he collided with Keen, pinning his vehicle against a utility pole.
“Wooden failed to observe the vehicle being operated by Keen,” the document alleges. “The defendant, HCSO, is vicariously liable for the negligence of its employee/agent, Wooden, committed in the course and scope of his employment related duties.”
Surveillance video from a nearby car dealership allegedly shows Keen waiting for traffic to clear as he prepares to turn. Black box data shows that Wooden was driving nearly 100 mph when the crash occurred, according to Castro. Body camera footage obtained by WFTS also allegedly features audio of Wooden telling a state trooper, “I can’t stay under the radar to save my life,” while at the crash scene.
“They always say to serve and protect. They didn’t serve Michael and they didn’t protect him,” Martin told WFTS. “If he’d have only been going 70 miles an hour … we wouldn’t be sitting here today.”
Attorneys for the sheriff’s office blame Keen for what happened, claiming he “conducted himself in a careless or negligent manner, and said carelessness or negligence was a contributing cause or was the sole proximate cause of the injuries and damages alleged,” according to court documents. They’ve offered at least three theories on why Keen is ultimately to blame, according to Castro, including an allegation that he was not wearing his seat belt, which Castro denies.
“Defendant’s theory of the case centered on the alleged negligence of Michael Keen, both in his operation of the motor vehicle on the date of crash and through his failure to wear a seat belt,” Castro wrote in an Oct. 27 filing, which accused the HCSO attorneys of seeking to add an “entirely new theory of the case” that Keen’s vehicle failed to meet the standards for “occupant crash protection, seat belt assemblies, seat belt assembly anchorages, and collision safety standards,” per the filing.
“Now, on the eve of trial, defendant seeks to add entirely new affirmative defenses, at odds with its previous theory of the case, by introducing the question of Toyota’s negligence,” Castro said. He notes in court documents that it was actually Wooden who was allegedly not wearing a seat belt, as shown in the initial crash report. The deputy did not face any charges or disciplinary action in connection with the crash.
Jury selection was scheduled to begin Monday.
