Travelers Insurance v. LaClair

These two appeals in a declaratory judgment proceeding present a question of motor vehicle insurance coverage. The dispositive issue is whether an intentional shooting by a person occupying an uninsured vehicle constitutes “use” of the vehicle for purposes of uninsured motorist coverage. We answer that query in the negative, and reverse.

The facts are virtually undisputed. On November 21, 1990, appellee Daryl F. LaClair, an Arlington County deputy sheriff, was operating his marked police vehicle on Lee Highway in Arlington County. An automobile ahead of LaClair, driven by one Marcus Arban, was…