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Husband sues driver of car that hit his wife
AUBURN — The husband of a woman who was killed when she was hit by a car while walking to a driveway mailbox is suing the driver of the car.
Ronald S. Call of Greene filed a wrongful death civil suit last week in Androscoggin County Superior Court against Brandon Earl Pelletier, 19, of Turner.
Call's wife, Sharon, 65, was killed on July 24 when she was struck by the 1995 Chevrolet Camaro Pelletier was driving. She had been getting the mail for her 90-year-old mother, for whom she served as caretaker. According to a police accident report, illegal or unsafe speed was a primary contributing factor; a secondary factor was defective tire or tire failure.
The accident took place in the rain. Pelletier lost control of the car at about 9:45 a.m. on Route 4 before it skidded on wet pavement about 100 yards across the driveway where Call was retrieving her mother's mail. The car continued across a lawn then went down an embankment into a grassy field, the accident report said. Call's body wasn't recovered until relatives noticed she was missing. The force of the impact launched her body into tall grass where relatives found her about an hour later when they called police to report it.
The Calls were married 43 years, Ronald Call wrote in a sworn affidavit that accompanied the suit. He said his wife was in good health and happily married when she died.
Statistics show that Sharon Call would have been expected to have lived another 20 years, the suit said. Had she collected her Social Security all that time, it would have totaled $65,520 by the time she reached 85. Ronald Call's loss of care and companionship due to his wife's death is valued at a minimum of $250,000, the suit says. Punitive damages of $75,000 would be reasonable, the suit says. Available insurance to compensate for her death is $125,000 under Ronald Call's uninsured motor vehicle coverage, according to the suit.
A judge signed an order to attach $200,000 of Pelletier's bank assets after considering the likelihood that Call would prevail in his complaint. Pelletier was expected to have gotten $182,729.36 when he turned 18 years old, the result of a settlement from a fatal industrial accident involving his father when Pelletier was 11 years old. That money would make up a significant portion of the difference between the amount Call is claiming Pelletier owes him and the amount Call expects to collect from his insurance policy, the suit says.
Pelletier has not been charged in connection with the accident. A spokesman at the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Department said Wednesday a criminal investigation into the accident is not complete. District Attorney Norm Croteau said Wednesday his office hasn't received investigative materials, including an accident reconstruction report. A spokeswoman at the Maine Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Call died of multiple blunt force trauma.
Pelletier has a lengthy history of driving offenses, including seven license suspensions since December 2006. He sustained minor injuries in the accident.
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Whats the name of Mr Call's
Whats the name of Mr Call's attorney?
verified Ron Calls character is not
Ron Calls character is not the one in question here, and is totally irrelevent to the issue. Don't be an ass.
People with multiple
People with multiple suspensions like Pelletier who are at fault in fatal accidents should go straight to jail for at least 10 years with no option for appeal or parole. I don't believe for one second that Pelletier cares at all about the woman he killed; he's concerned about himself only.
Time to make him care about the consequences of his selfish actions.
- Agree Agree (1)
ron call is no pillar of
ron call is no pillar of society himself.
7 license suspensions in 3
7 license suspensions in 3 years??!! And this idiot is still driving??!! The problem with your justice system is apparently they don't understand the meaning of the word "accident." An accident is when, through no fault of anyone, something goes wrong. In this case, there is fault. Pelletier was purposely speeding in rainy conditions, and that was according to the police report. Also, he was driving on defective tires according to the report, and any operator of a motor vehicle knows that you should always check your equipment before you operate it. That having been said, and by virtue of the fact that Pelletier is a known wreckless driver, this would negate any indication or possibility that this was, in fact an "accident", and clearly indicates that Pelletier knowingly, and with malice aforethought, purposely killed Mrs. Call by speeding in the rain, driving on defective equipment, and driving wrecklessly for the conditions. Nothing will bring Mrs. Call back, but I think Mr. Call should get every penny that Pelletier gets from whatever settlement he has coming, and then the State of Maine should hang this loser before he gets behind the wheel and kills someone else, which he most certainly will do. Oh, and Candiceanne, I don't know who your lawyer was, but you might think about suing him if he was that negligent in representing your case.
BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY
BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY !!!!!!!!
The article says no one knew
The article says no one knew Mrs. Call had been hit until they noticed she was missing and they found her an hour later. Why didn't Brandon call the police and tell them he hit someone? You can't hit a person and not know it. So if Brandon is so innocent in this accident, why didn't he telll the police he hit someone? Or try to help her? It would have shown concern and good intent. You don't just hit a person hard enough to launch them into the air and not bother to do anything. Mr. Call has every right to sue Brandon Pelletier and take away everything he has. Brandon should be charged with vehicular manslaughter and have his licensed revoked permanently.
The car left the road, hit
The car left the road, hit that lady, then landed in a field and stayed there until it was hauled away. So he wouldn't even have had to call the cops, he would have just had to tell them "by the way, I hit someone on my way though just now. Her body's right over there in the grass."
verified "inline"...you are either
"inline"...you are either one of Pelletiers pals, or you have not heard of this loser. Understand this, Brandon Pelletier is a menace to society. No amount of money is going to bring back Mr. Call's wife. Brandon uses that money to buy himself out of the bad decisions he keeps making. He needs to learn that money will not keep getting him out. He also needs to go to jail for a long time. Maybe then he will grow up and stop ruining other peoples lives and properties. The world will be a safer place when he is put away.
verified good comments
good comments
verified I feel very sorry for
I feel very sorry for Mr.Calls loss. I hope Brandon Pellitier spends along time in jail and is never allowed to have a license again in his lifetime. He is an irresponsible person who shows no value for others life. I realize the money will not bring back Sharon Call but it will help with the expenses incurred. My thoughts and prayers are with the Call family.
It is unbelievable that this
It is unbelievable that this kid still had the privilege to have a licence after it being suspended 7 times since 2006 what the hell is wrong with our court systems these days. My deepest sympathy goes out to Mr. Call and his family. And candiceanne is proably right Brandon Pelletier will proably get all the sympathy in this case which i think is complete bull crap. Brandon needs to take FULL responsibilaty for his actions and be punished to the fulliest. How would his family feel if it would have been there son life cut short for no reasson, other than stupidy.
I just wonder if the suit
I just wonder if the suit would have happened if the accused hadnt been waiting on a pile of money !!It was an accident ...lets define that word ????
Good luck Mr Call. I was hit
Good luck Mr Call. I was hit by a driver under suspension who ran a red light in Bangor in October of 2002. Mr Hamlin left me permanently disabled. His insurance did not evan pay my medical bills let alone lost wages for the rest of my life and his driving privileges were revoked at the time of the "accident". If you have been reading the paper you realize you don't stant a snowballs chance in hell, Mr. Pelletier will get aLll the sympathy, this was an "accident" and he will have to live with having killed someone for the rest of his life. The fact you and your family will spend the rest of your lives without your wife who was the innocent victim "Oh, well". You have my sympathy for what it is worth. Oh and beware the lawyers they like the press and what fast cash they can get then disappear.
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