Penobscot County sheriff deputy caused fatal 2022 crash, lawsuit alleges

A lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges that a Penobscot County sheriff deputy’s actions caused a crash that killed a Brewer man in 2022.

David Sawyer, 69, died Oct. 27, 2022 , from injuries sustained when another driver hit his car that was partially off the road in Eddington while he waited outside it for a tow truck. The Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office, which responded to the crash, is liable for what happened, the lawsuit filed in Penobscot County Superior Court said.

Along with the sheriff’s office, Deputy Tyler Young, driver Herbert Hopkins, Patrons Oxford Insurance Company and Allmerica Financial Benefit Insurance Company are defendants in the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages.

“Our office expresses our sympathies to the Sawyer family. However, it would be inappropriate to speak about a matter that has pending litigation,” Sheriff Troy Morton said.

The deputy is accused of negligence that caused the crash, while the sheriff’s office is accused of being liable for the crash, according to the lawsuit. Hopkins was allegedly negligent in his driving, causing Sawyer’s fatal injuries. The two insurance companies are accused of breaching their contracts by not paying enough benefits.

It was dark and raining while Sawyer was driving on Route 178 in Eddington on Oct. 24, 2022, and he missed the entrance of the driveway, according to the suit. The front wheels of his vehicle dropped into a small ditch, and he could not back out, the lawsuit said.

Part of the rear of the car was sticking out in the northbound lane. Sawyer called for a tow truck. While he was waiting, Young, the sheriff’s deputy, arrived at the scene.

Young had the headlights and takedown lights turned on for his cruiser, which he had parked facing south in northbound lane, the lawsuit said. Takedown lights are “extremely bright” and point forward, the suit said. The intensity of the lights pointing toward oncoming traffic “increased substantially,” according to the lawsuit.

After talking with Sawyer, Young returned to his cruiser and was in the vehicle as the crash happened.

Hopkins, while looking toward Young’s lights, drove into the rear end of Sawyer’s car without braking, the lawsuit said. Sawyer’s vehicle rotated from the force of the crash and hit him. He died three days later from those injuries.

Young’s actions were negligent because he placed his cruiser in a dangerous position, creating a hazard and then made the hazard worse by turning on his lights into oncoming traffic, the lawsuit said. His actions were a “direct and proximate cause” of the crash and Sawyer’s death, according to the lawsuit.

Young continues to work for the sheriff’s office and “is a very good deputy,” Morton said.

The Maine Department of Transportation classified it as a fatal pedestrian crash.