Lawsuit over Motorcycle Death Names Town, Police, Local Bars

By Evan Mix

Published on April 25, 2007

On July 29, Kirk John Mitchell, 42, was struck by an alleged drunk driver who was fleeing police. The driver, Joseph Scott, struck Mitchell as he was driving his motorcycle down 73rd street. Scott has been charged with causing death while operating a motor vehicle, resisting law enforcement, reckless homicide, and criminal recklessness. According to police, a sobriety test using a breathalyzer showed that Scott had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.22. The legal limit in Indiana is 0.08.

The civil suit, which names Mitchell’s widow and their 6-year-old son as beneficiaries, asks for unspecified damages. The city of Merrillville, the Merrillville Police Department, four police officers, two local bars, and Scott are all named as defendants.

The four police officers are accused of failing to maintain proper vigilance, traveling at excessive speeds, endangering the life and/or property of others, using too many vehicles, and failing to use alternative methods of intervention. The bars named in the suit are accused of continuing to serve Scott in spite of the fact that he was visibly intoxicated.

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