Wisconsin’s Outagamie County may settle a lawsuit after a woman was killed jumping out of a moving vehicle while being transported by sheriff officials in 2022, Fox News 11 reported.
On May 30, 2022, Xee A. Yang died after jumping or falling from a sheriff’s van while being transported to the Wisconsin County Mental Health Institute by two sheriff deputies. Yang sat alone in the back seat with the doors unlocked, according to the lawsuit.
After Yang’s death, her estate sued, claiming that deputies James Storcock and Thomas Van Horn failed to provide safe and secure transport during her mental health episode, WBAY reported.
According to Neenah News, deputies restrained Yang with handcuffs and a belly strap, which restricted her from using her arms to break her fall. Yang managed to open the van’s door while the deputies were in the front seat, WBAY reported.
The 43-year-old was being transferred from St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Appleton after Grand Chute police responded to several calls about Yang’s increasingly erratic behavior, Neenah News reported in 2022.
According to Post Crescent in 2023, the investigation into the incident said that the deputies thought the interior door handles were disabled.
The deputies’ attorneys told WBAY in July that they took numerous steps to ensure Yang’s safety.
In August, a federal judge granted some of the defendant’s motions to dismiss the claims but kept the Fourteenth Amendment claim of due process against the deputies in place, Fox News 11 reported.
According to a file obtained by Fox News 11 on Tuesday, the County’s Board’s Finance Committee’s agenda shows that a settlement may have been reached.
In the document, a resolution proposes that Yang’s widow, Mr. Navtej Bhandari, to receive $400,000 from the country for liability insurance. The resolution also proposes that the county build a memorial in honor of Yang.
The Finance Committee will meet on Jan 6, and if approved, the full County Board will consider the item on Jan. 13, Fox News reported.
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