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Repayment sought after off-duty officer damages car
FOX 26 Reporter Randy Wallace spoke with the woman about the struggle she's had to get paid for damage to her vehicle by an off-duty officer who was in a city vehicle.
HOUSTON - On September 3, 2022, Ella Williams and her sister drove to Houston from Fort Worth to see her uncle and cousin.
"I parked legally on the street, and ended up getting backed into by an off-duty police officer," said Williams.
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She wasn't in the car at the time of the crash. The officer, who was in a city owned vehicle, knocked on her uncle's door.
"The mechanism that allows me to open my door at all, was completely destroyed. So I couldn't lock or access my vehicle from the driver's side," Williams said.
According to Williams, the off-duty officer told her to file a claim with the city, and everything would be taken care of.
"He admitted guilt and responsibility," she said. "I figured it would be easy matter to handle."
Williams says she sent the city legal department all her receipts, photos, and evidence.
"I mailed it, I called them, I left voice mails," she said. "All I've gotten are robots, sans automated messages."
Weeks turned into months. Since she says the city was ignoring her, Williams contacted us.
In a statement, the city legal department told us, "Since he was not on duty, the city is not the proper place to file the claim. The city is only liable for damages caused by employees when the employees are in the scope of employment."
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The accident has left Williams $4,000 in the hole.
"I feel like they got off scot-free, and I'm dealing with significant financial issues now because of it," she said.
The city legal department says Williams should seek reimbursement from the off-duty officer. It's not clear why someone with the city didn't call Williams to tell her that months ago.