BOS to discuss legal settlement involving ex-deputy
Lawsuit stems from 2016 collision
The Yuma County Board of Supervisors will discuss a proposed legal settlement in its executive and regular sessions Monday — the second involving a now-former Yuma County Sheriff’s Office deputy to make it to the board level for approval.
If approved, the settlement would resolve a lawsuit stemming from a January 2016 collision between a YCSO vehicle driven by Deputy Eric Frost as he was proceeding through the intersection of Avenue 3E and 32nd Street to reach a car that was on fire.
His vehicle collided with Samantha Williams’, who proceeded through the intersection and crashed into Frost’s vehicle with her husband and two young daughters as passengers.
Her original complaint, filed the following November, alleged Frost “drove in a reckless manner” and caused the collision, causing injuries which required hospitalization and medical care, and she sought unspecified damages to be determined in court.
The county attorney’s office answer said Williams was at least partly at fault for the accident, and that Frost had serious injuries, some permanent. Frost and his wife separately filed a counterclaim seeking damages from Williams.
The counterclaim reached a settlement last May and was dropped from the case, although the original complaint by Williams against the county and Frost in his professional capacity remained. Previous settlement talks had failed and a jury trial was set for next September, before the new settlement offer.
The board is scheduled to discuss the terms of the settlement before voting on it in open session.
The supervisors approved a $75,000 settlement in October 2015 for another lawsuit, which alleged Frost had filed a criminal report against his girlfriend’s ex-husband while the two were in a custody battle over their children, rather than recusing himself from the case due to conflict of interest.
A representative of the YCSO’s human resources department said Frost was no longer employed at the agency, but could not say when he left.
The meeting begins 9 a.m. Monday in the Board of Supervisors Auditorium at 198 S. Main St., Yuma. Other agenda items include:
• Discussion and a possible vote on the legislative priorities for the upcoming National Association of Counties Conference in Washington D.C.
• Hearings on two properties which could have their zoning reverted due to an applicant for a change not meeting requirements, at Avenue 4E and County 13th Street and at County 10 1/2 Street and Foothills Boulevard.
• Approving several items as the Yuma County Housing Governing Board, including the housing department’s Family Self Sufficiency Action Program and admission and continued occupancy policies for the three housing department-owned apartment complexes: Pecan Shadows in Yuma, Valley Vista Apartments in Somerton and Moctezuma Apartments in San Luis.