A Florida widow is preparing to face off in court this week in a civil lawsuit against a local sheriff’s office. She argues that the office is “vicariously liable” for a crash involving one of its deputies, which resulted in the death of her 74-year-old husband. According to her lawsuit, the deputy was driving at 97 mph in a 50 mph zone around 7:30 a.m., without activating emergency lights or sirens, as he responded to a school bus altercation.

“This was not an emergency,” stated attorney John Castro, representing the widow, Pamela Martin, in an interview with local ABC affiliate WFTS. Castro questioned, “Would most people be excused if they collided with someone at 97 miles an hour?”

The lawsuit, filed by Martin against the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, highlights that her husband, Michael Keen, a Vietnam War veteran and former commercial truck driver, succumbed to his injuries a week after the February 26, 2021 crash.

“They took him off life support, and he passed away within an hour,” Martin recounted. “Why would they permit deputies to drive nearly twice the speed limit on a busy road at that time of day, when others are also on the road?”

In their lawsuit and subsequent court documents, Castro and Martin claim that HCSO Deputy Devin S. Wooden was driving a 2015 Dodge Charger patrol car “negligently” when he crashed into Keen, who was driving east on State Road 60 in a 1996 Toyota T100 pickup truck.

Keen was attempting to turn left to go north on Currie Davis Drive when Wooden, who was traveling westbound on State Road 60, “crashed directly into the side of Keen’s vehicle, violently impacting Keen’s body and causing serious damage” to his truck, according to the complaint. Wooden was “traveling at approximately 97 mph, without lights and/or sirens,” before slamming into Keen and pinning his truck against a utility pole, the complaint says.

“Wooden failed to observe the vehicle being operated by Keen,” the document alleges. “The defendant, HCSO, is vicariously liable for the negligence of its employee/agent, Wooden, committed in the course and scope of his employment related duties.”

Surveillance video from a nearby car dealership allegedly shows Keen waiting for traffic to clear as he prepares to turn. Black box data shows that Wooden was driving nearly 100 mph when the crash occurred, according to Castro. Body camera footage obtained by WFTS also allegedly features audio of Wooden telling a state trooper, “I can’t stay under the radar to save my life,” while at the crash scene.

“They always say to serve and protect. They didn’t serve Michael and they didn’t protect him,” Martin told WFTS. “If he’d have only been going 70 miles an hour … we wouldn’t be sitting here today.”

Attorneys for the sheriff’s office blame Keen for what happened, claiming he “conducted himself in a careless or negligent manner, and said carelessness or negligence was a contributing cause or was the sole proximate cause of the injuries and damages alleged,” according to court documents. They’ve offered at least three theories on why Keen is ultimately to blame, according to Castro, including an allegation that he was not wearing his seat belt, which Castro denies.

“Defendant’s theory of the case centered on the alleged negligence of Michael Keen, both in his operation of the motor vehicle on the date of crash and through his failure to wear a seat belt,” Castro wrote in an Oct. 27 filing, which accused the HCSO attorneys of seeking to add an “entirely new theory of the case” that Keen’s vehicle failed to meet the standards for “occupant crash protection, seat belt assemblies, seat belt assembly anchorages, and collision safety standards,” per the filing.

“Now, on the eve of trial, defendant seeks to add entirely new affirmative defenses, at odds with its previous theory of the case, by introducing the question of Toyota’s negligence,” Castro said. He notes in court documents that it was actually Wooden who was allegedly not wearing a seat belt, as shown in the initial crash report. The deputy did not face any charges or disciplinary action in connection with the crash.

Jury selection was scheduled to begin Monday.