County helping man who lost legs when deputy ran stop sign

EVERETT — Snohomish County quietly has been helping a man who lost his legs after being struck by a deputy’s patrol car earlier this year.

An initial police report on the April 17 crash in north Everett concluded that the sheriff’s deputy ran a stop sign. That caused a chain-reaction pile-up that crushed a construction worker who was standing nearby, leaving him with severe leg injuries.

The investigation into the collision is ongoing, more than eight months later.

In that time, the county has been working with the injured man’s lawyer on compensation, county Risk Manager Keith Mitchell said.

Two other people have filed legal claims against the county regarding the crash, public records show. One was a driver whose car was totaled. The other was a witness in a case, who at the time was being driven by the deputy. That man is seeking up to $1 million in damages.

The crash at 23rd Street and Rockefeller Avenue is still being examined by the Washington State Patrol’s Major Accident Investigation Team, which is tasked with making sense of the most complicated collisions.

It could be several more months before the case is forwarded to prosecutors for review, trooper Mark Francis said. An internal investigation will follow at the sheriff’s office.

The initial collision report and the legal claims were obtained by The Herald through a public records request. Francis noted that state law requires initial reports be filed quickly and that early findings don’t always match detectives’ final conclusions.

The crash happened at 11:45 a.m. on a Friday. The deputy, John Sadro, 54, was southbound on Rockefeller Avenue. He reportedly ran the stop sign and his Ford Crown Victoria was struck by a westbound Honda Element, which didn’t have a stop sign. The impact sent the deputy’s car spinning. Ultimately it struck a parked pickup, pinning a Darrington-area man between the two vehicles.

Tom Gillette, then 59, was working with a construction crew at the time. He lost part of both legs. An online fundraiser for his family earlier this year raised nearly $14,000.

The county has been working with the Gillette family and their lawyer, said Mitchell, the risk manager. The family has not filed a claim at this point.

“We took a proactive approach on this,” Mitchell said. “It was a terrible thing to have happen.”

The county helped pay for work to make Gillette’s home more wheelchair-friendly and also for a van that can accommodate a wheelchair, Mitchell said. That decision was made after Mitchell talked with Sheriff Ty Trenary.

At the family’s suggestion, the county hired the construction company Gillette had been working for in Everett to do the remodeling on his home.

“We’re just trying to do everything we can to do the right thing,” Mitchell said.

The two claims the county has received are pending. The Honda driver’s insurance company has asked the county to pay $24,000 for his medical bills and damaged vehicle.

The deputy’s passenger who filed the claim for $1 million did not specify what led him to seek that amount. The accident report says the man was injured and taken to an Everett hospital.

Three other people were hospitalized that day, though Gillette’s injuries were the most severe.

The deputy was put on paid administrative leave after the crash. He returned to patrol May 14, sheriff’s spokeswoman Shari Ireton said. Sadro has been with the agency since 2006.

“As is standard, an internal investigation cannot begin until any criminal investigation is completed,” she said.

Meanwhile, the State Patrol’s collision team is wrapping up several other investigations first. The team is known for its thoroughness, Francis said. For example, in the April 17 crash, they still are obtaining medical records for those involved. Past investigations have included historical weather data and crash simulations with similar vehicles at the same spot.

The timeline for the investigation is not out of the ordinary for a complex crash, Francis said.

“These are very thorough investigations just because of the sheer importance of them,” he said.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.