Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Teen’s death in cop chase costs city $200K
Coconut Creek will pay $200,000 to the family of a teenager killed during a high-speed police chase.
The city has settled a lawsuit with the family of Abigail Espinoza, who was 18 when she died Dec. 2, 2017. An analysis by the city’s insurance company showed that the settlement would cost less than defending the case through trial, Terrill Pyburn, the city’s attorney, said Tuesday.
Espinoza died after police tried to stop a driver, Fabreece Ductan, of Margate, after an officer smelled alcohol and marijuana coming from a parked car. Ductan, with Espinoza in his car, took off.
Police officers hit speeds of nearly 80 mph — double the speed limit — during a chase across several miles before they lost sight of Ductan’s car. Less than a minute later, about 12:30 a.m. on a Saturday, Ductan crashed into another car, and his passenger and friend since elementary school, Espinoza, died. Ductan, now 21, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and is serving a 16-year prison sentence.
Police’s in-car camera system, which logs speeds and GPS location, recorded two officers clocking in at up to 78 mph on Rock Island Road during the chase. The posted limit is 40 mph.
Before the chase began, another officer had sped up to 91 mph on Sample Road to reach the suspect’s car. The posted limit on Sample Road is 45 mph.
For three of the officers, this wasn’t the first time they had been caught speeding excessively.
In 2016, a lieutenant ordered one of the officers to stop a chase. The officer replied, “I’m no longer in pursuit.” But he was, and at some point three other officers joined in. Five minutes after the first order, the pursuit ended in a crash.
Hyram Montero, an attorney representing Espinoza’s family, said the family agreed to the settlement because any settlement against a state agency for more than $200,000 would require an act from the Florida Legislature. Rather than pursue a claims bill, they opted to move on.
“They are going to live with this the rest of their lives,” he said. “They did not want to proceed with litigation.”
He said the teen’s parents are “extremely distraught. Their lives are never going to be the same. they are living with a pain every day of their lives. As the mother has told me on more than one occasion, her life as she knew it died that day with her daughter. What remains right now is the vestiges of what her life was before.”
The girl’s father is suffering, too. “Every day he tries to find a reason to continue living. Only their faith keeps them alive.”
Moments after the crash, police dashboard video shows an officer checking whether Espinoza was OK.
“Abby, hang in there, all right?” an officer tells her while she’s trapped in the passenger seat. “We’re going to get you out of here. Hang in there.”
The aspiring college student was taken to a hospital, where she died.