Estate of jogger killed by drunk driver sues
Posted on Tuesday, September 23, 2008
The estate of a Fayetteville woman who was killed by a drunk driver while she was jogging filed a lawsuit Monday against the driver and his insurance company.
Phillip J. Wantland Jr., 51, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.12 when he ran off the road in his 2004 Dodge pickup on June 28, killing 23-year-old Shelby Ann Forbes, according to test results released by Arkansas State Police.
Wantland faces felony charges of negligent homicide in Washington County Circuit Court as a result of Forbes’ death.
Forbes’ estate named Allstate Insurance Co. and Wantland’s wife, Rita Wantland, as defendants in the lawsuit.
Rita Wantland had a duty to use ordinary care to make sure an intoxicated person did not drive her pickup, and she breached that duty by allowing her drunk husband to drive her vehicle, the lawsuit alleges.
Allstate is named in the suit because the company has failed to pay claims relating to the death of Forbes, according to the complaint.
The plaintiffs also asks for damages for the pain and suffering that Forbes suffered prior to her death and for the mental anguish suffered by her surviving heirs, including her parents, E.C. and Raney Forbes and her sister, Madison Forbes.
Shelby Forbes was jogging southbound on Arkansas 265 south of Greenland the evening of June 28 when she was struck by Wantland, who ran off the road while traveling northbound, according to the police report.
Wantland then swerved left, crossing the double lines, and hit a 2000 Ford Taurus driven by Donna L. Myers, 49, of Prairie Grove, according to the report. Wantland was thrown from the truck.
Both Myers and a passenger in her car suffered serious injuries, including broken bones, said David Harris, 4th Judicial District deputy prosecutor.
Wantland is also charged with two counts of second-degree battery as a result of injuring Myers and her passenger.
Forbes was pronounced dead the morning after the accident. She recently graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in psychology. She worked at LifeStyles Inc.
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