City of Winder v. McDougald

Fletcher, Chief Justice.

We granted certiorari in this case to consider whether a municipality may be held liable for injuries a suspect incurs when the suspect is fleeing police in a high speed chase. The Court of Appeals held that the municipality could be liable for the wrongful death of the suspect upon a showing that the police officer acted in reckless disregard of proper police procedures.1 Because the wrongful death claim was brought by the parents of the fleeing suspect and the reckless disregard standard of OCGA § 40-6-6 (d) (2) applies only to the claim of an innocent party, we…