Wrongful death lawsuit: Pepper spray sent woman running into traffic

Before she was struck and killed by a van past year, Alanna O’Donnell was pepper-sprayed by employees astatine a adjacent market, according to constabulary and tribunal records.

On April 4, 2020, O’Donnell was astatine Jay’s Market connected Flamingo Road erstwhile she was “accosted and attacked by employees,” according to a wrongful decease suit filed past week. The suit claims she had obstructed imaginativeness erstwhile she fled the store.

O’Donnell diagonally crossed the intersection of Flamingo Road and South Koval Lane, extracurricular of a marked crosswalk, constabulary said. She was deed by a 2018 achromatic Dodge Ram van and died 2 days later. Her decease was ruled an accident.

The lawsuit, filed successful Clark County District Court, names employees Elizabeth Leitzen, Renae Bilodeau and Wanita Liddic arsenic defendants. Also named is the van’s driver, Alan Heldack. They did not respond to a petition for remark connected the lawsuit.

A 21-page Metropolitan Police Department study states that earlier the accident, O’Donnell entered Jay’s Market and tried to bargain merchandise. Leitzen told constabulary that she approached O’Donnell, who became hostile.

As O’Donnell ran retired of the store, Leitzen pepper-sprayed the backmost of her caput but did not pursuit her, according to the report. O’Donnell ran into postulation astatine a greenish airy and was struck. The operator showed nary signs of impairment, and nary charges were filed.

“The origin of the collision was committed connected the portion of the pedestrian, Alanna O’Donnell,” Detective Swaine McCuistion wrote. “By failing to output close of mode to the conveyance and by choosing to transverse a large intersection extracurricular of a crosswalk and astatine a diagonal direction.”

The suit was filed by Erin O’Donnell, described arsenic the woman’s heir, and Alan MacIntosh, peculiar head of her estate.

Contact Briana Erickson astatine berickson@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-387-5244. Follow @ByBrianaE connected Twitter.