Subject: [NEXTEL-1] CROWN VICTORIAS: Texas to Release Probe Results in Patrol Car Blow-up

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2002 04:58:50 -0500

C L A S S   A C T I O N   R E P O R T E R

Tuesday, November 26, 2002

CROWN VICTORIAS: Texas to Release Probe Results in Patrol Car Blow-up

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City Attorney Meleine Johnson, in Dallas, Texas, said recently that she
will
announce soon the results of an investigation of the death of a police
officer who was killed when his Ford Crown Victoria patrol car was
struck
from behind then exploded into flames, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
reports.

Ms. Johnson will discuss the city's course of action in response to the
accident.  Officer Patrick Metzler, 31, died after a Jeep Wrangler
crashed
into the back of his patrol car.  He died of smoke inhalation and burns,

according to the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office.  Jeffrey
Goddard
of Dallas, the driver of the Wrangler, was later charged with
intoxication
manslaughter.

Since 1992, 14 officers and four civilians have been killed in accidents
in
which Crown Victoria gas tanks exploded - most recently in Phoenix and
Corpus Christi.

A Corpus Christi attorney who has filed a lawsuit that seeks to force
Ford
to make safety modifications to the vehicles was in Dallas during the
past
week.  David Perry, who is known as a leading lawyer in Crown Victoria
cases, represents Nueces County in a class action filed on behalf of all

Texas cities and counties.  Mr. Perry declined to comment on whether he
will
be involved in whatever actions Dallas is contemplating.

Officer Metzler's car was not equipped with a safety shield recommended
by
the manufacturer in September, to help prevent gas tank explosions, city

officials said.  However, the car was one of 927 city-owned Crown
Victorias
that had undergone another procedure that involves grinding off the tips
on
rear-axle bolts to eliminate points that could puncture gas tanks in
high-speed rear-end crashes.

A spokeswoman for Ford has said that the Company is offering to put
shields
around potentially dangerous gas tanks on 350,000 police vehicles across
the
nation.

Officer Metzler was escorting a work convoy at about three to five miles
per
hour along U.S. 75, when the accident occurred, according to an accident

report.  Witnesses told police that Mr. Goddard seemed to be racing with
a
motorcycle, at high speed, and was switching lanes, when he came upon
the
convoy.  Mr. Goddard struck the back of Officer Metzler's squad car,
which
"exploded into flames upon contact," according to the report.

The report lists speeding, driver inattention, alcohol and failure to
heed
warning signs as factors contributing to the accident.  Mr. Goddard, 23,

remains jailed at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center on the intoxication
manslaughter charge.  His bail is set at $100,000.

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