The city of Los Angeles and the estate of a veteran Los Angeles Fire Department battalion chief who died unexpectedly amid a medical emergency while on duty in April were sued Monday by a man injured when the chief’s car rear-ended his truck.
Jerome Boyd, 55, a 30-year LAFD veteran, died April 28. Boyd had been assigned to the Public Safety Section in the Fire Prevention Bureau.
Boyd’s car rear-ended a pickup truck in the area of 17th and Los Angeles streets about 11 a.m. He was taken to a hospital by an LAFD ambulance, but attempts to save him were unsuccessful.
The truck’s driver, Jorge Oswaldo Cotom Perez, alleges negligence in his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit and he seeks unspecified damages.
Perez, now 53, of Los Angeles, suffered significant injuries and his 2003 Toyota Tundra was badly damaged, according to the lawsuit.
Boyd should have reduced his speed and maintained a safe distance from other vehicles, the suit states.
In May, family, friends and colleagues of Boyd gathered inside The Novo by Microsoft at L.A. Live to pay respects to the department veteran who played linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks in 1983 with a highly competitive, never- quit personality.
Fire apparatus from the LAFD and other agencies was parked outside the venue on Chick Hearn Court in his memory.
LAFD Chief Ralph Terrazas said Boyd’s death was a reminder that the department “is a second family.”
–City News Service