Workers' Compensation May Only Be Start For Cocoa Beach Police Officer

Orlando's 13 News ran an interesting piece today about a Cocoa Beach Police Officer who was injured last night while investigating a traffic accident and fight outside of Cheater's Gentlemen's Club on State Road A1A in Cocoa Beach.

Apparently, a fight had erupted after a hit-and-run accident either in the Club's parking lot or on the adjoining road.  The person who originally fled, David Diemer, of Cape Canaveral, apparently returned to the scene of the original hit-and-run, hit the investigating Cocoa Beach Police Officer, other vehicles, and a pedestrian, and fled again.  Mr. Deimer was eventually caught, but not until he had already injured the Officer and the pedestrian and perhaps others.

As an Orlando personal injury attorney, the first thing that struck me about this story is how closely it resembles some of the fact patterns we were presented by our professors in torts class in law school.  This whole event is mess, but presents some interesting legal issues.

First, the Cocoa Beach Police Officer is fortunate that he will have Workers' Compensation benefits to assist with his medical bills and lost wages.  Although the Workers' Compensation system is extremely unfair toward workers, hopefully the Officer will receive the basic care that he needs.

Even though he is entitled to Workers' Compensation, the Officer is still free to pursue a personal injury claim against the negligent driver.  In this instance, however, there may not be a lot of benefit to doing that unless Mr. Deimer has unusually high policy limits.  Unfortunately, it sounds like Mr. Deimer injured several people with his driving, and therefore may be facing multiple claims against his insurance policy.

Hopefully, the Officer carried Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage on his own, personal vehicles.  If he did, then he would be able to make a claim against his own insurance company UM benefits for the negligence of Mr. Deimer.

The other angle that might warrant more exploration might be to do further investigation into the circumstances behind this fight, and how this fight might have placed the police officer in a position to be endangered by a negligent driver.  The news story suggests that bouncers may have been involved.  Bars can be help liable if their bouncer employees endanger patrons or other by virtue of their actions.

if you have any questions about car accidents, or the circumstances under which a business can be held responsible for injuries, call Orlando personal injury lawyer Kim Cullen at 407-254-4901.