Woman awarded $1.2M from Santa Fe stolen car, police crash

A Santa Fe County jury has awarded an 80-year-old woman more than $1.2 million after she was injured in a crash involving a stolen car chased by Santa Fe police.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the jury late Friday decided that Arlena Jackson was entitled to damages following the April 2016 crash.

Jackson filed a lawsuit against the Santa Fe Police Department, the city of Santa Fe and a local Toyota dealership where police say 30-year-old Jeremy Chavez had stolen the vehicle.

Jackson’s lawsuit argued that police acted negligently when they chased Chavez.

The lawsuit says the crash left her with eight fractured ribs, a fractured pelvis, bleeding in the lungs and other injuries.

Attorney Scott Hatcher, who represented the city of Santa Fe, says police were only doing their jobs.

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Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.santafenewmexican.com

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