Bothell sued over woman’s death after high-speed police chase

BOTHELL — The decisions that led to a deadly police chase in 2013 are under scrutiny in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the city of Bothell.

The lawsuit alleges that Bothell police officer Mark Atterbury was reckless and negligent when he chased a pickup truck into Everett. The truck, driven by Joseph Strange, a convicted felon recently released from prison, smashed into Rachael Kamin’s Honda CRV.

Kamin, 40, was driving home along Pacific Avenue on Mother’s Day after her shift at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett. She suffered a head injury and died two days later. She was survived by her husband, Todd Kamin, and two sons, 16 and 14.

Prosecutors charged Strange with first-degree murder based on a rarely used theory that he caused Kamin’s death “under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life.”

The defense argued at Strange’s criminal trial that his client was being held to a different standard than the officers who continued to pursue him at high speeds for miles into Everett.

After a lengthy trial, 11 jurors were ready to convict Strange of first-degree murder. One juror was not convinced, and so Strange was found guilty of second-degree murder. He was sentenced last month to 39 years in prison.

Strange also is a defendant in the lawsuit.

The chase violated the Bothell police department’s own policies, Kamin’s attorney said Thursday.

“The evidence shows and our experts believe this tragedy never should have happened,” Seattle attorney Robert Gellatly said.

The city denied any wrongdoing in its answer to the lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court late last year. The officers were “acting in good faith and within reasonable exercise of discretion vested in them by law and therefore are immune from any liability …,” Seattle attorney Steven Thorsrud wrote.

The first leg of the pursuit began in Bothell after Atterbury saw a Ford pickup truck pull into a hotel parking lot. Atterbury had been advised that there had been a rash of stolen Ford F350 trucks in recent months. The license plates on the truck checked out as stolen. The officer attempted to stop the truck. That’s when Strange drove away and Atterbury chased after him. The officer’s sergeant called off the chase after a couple of minutes.

The pursuit picked up again in Lynnwood where Strange struck a car pulling into a gas station and backed into Atterbury’s patrol car. Strange took to the freeway but then headed into downtown Everett via Evergreen Way. Speeds reached up to 90 mph.

Strange ran a red light and plowed into Kamin’s car as she was driving through the intersection at Rucker and Pacific avenues. The impact sent her car sliding on its side for 160 feet.

An internal investigation determined that Atterbury violated department policy. The investigation concluded that Atterbury should not have chased after the pickup truck based solely on the stolen license plate. Bothell Police Chief Carol Cummings also concluded that Atterbury should have called off the pursuit about two miles from the crash site, saying the danger created by the chase outweighed the need to apprehend the suspect.

The road had narrowed to five lanes and Strange had picked up speed and blown through multiple red lights.

The chief suspended Atterbury for a day.

“I want to clearly state that the cause of this tragedy rests squarely on the shoulders of the suspect,” she wrote at the time.

In its answer to the lawsuit, the city claims Strange is fully responsible for the crash and police had no control over his actions.

The city’s lawyers also said the state Department of Corrections may bear some liability because Strange was under community supervision at the time of the chase.

Since the crash, the Bothell Police Department has adopted stricter policies to guide officers on when to engage in pursuits. The changes were in the works before the deadly crash but didn’t go into effect until Bothell’s officers could be retrained, according to public records.

The lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial in November.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.