Cop-chase victim gets $2.5M deal after getting paralyzed in drunk driving crash
A Queens man who was paralyzed when his drunken cousin smashed up their car collected $2.5 million from the city after claiming cops chased them, the Daily News has learned.
Jean Tendreau Jr., 29, sued the city over the wreck, accusing officers Jeffrey Peck and Scott Abrams of breaking NYPD protocol by pursuing him and driver Jean Cameau, over a traffic infraction.
The settlement was reached Thursday while Peck was on the witness stand in Queens Supreme Court.
He and Abrams, assigned at the time to the Queens South auto larceny unit, insisted they were not chasing the Acura sedan when it smashed into a light pole at more than 70 mph.
Tendreau's lawyer, Scott Rynecki, played a recording of Peck talking to a police dispatcher after the crash that cast doubt on their account.
"I got a car here, North Conduit and 144th Ave., '53' (police code for vehicle accident) in pursuit, no injuries," Peck told the dispatcher, court papers show.
"The words on that tape were very damaging," Rynecki said yesterday.
The NYPD patrol guide requires termination of a vehicle pursuit "when the risks to cops and the public outweigh the danger to the community if a suspect is not immediately apprehended."
The cops were patrolling in an unmarked radio car around 5 a.m. on Feb. 19, 2005, when the Acura skidded through a red light right in front of them. They claim the chase ended after Cameau blew through a second red light.
"I was trying to catch up but then I stopped following. I slowed down. I stopped," Peck said in a deposition.
Cameau and another passenger appeared fine after the crash, but the cops found Tendreau lying about 100 feet from the crumpled car.
He'd been ejected out the back window, suffering a fractured spine and traumatic brain injury.
"The settlement will provide this innocent victim some economic security for the future," said Tendreau's other lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein.
Tendreau is paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair.
Comeau pleaded guilty to driving under the influence.
The city insisted the cops acted correctly.
"The officers involved in this case acted reasonably and appropriately and did not cause this accident," said city Law Department spokesman Elizabeth Thomas. "Given the uncertainties of a jury verdict, a resolution of this case was in the best interest of all parties."