Survivors of Crash Victim Sue Police, CHP

AZUSA — The survivors of a crash victim who died last year after refusing a blood transfusion for religious reasons have sued the Azusa Police Department and California Highway Patrol.

Jadine Russell, 55, was injured March 7, 1998, when a drunk driver’s truck slammed into her car as she stood on the side of the road talking to officers after a minor accident.

She suffered massive bleeding in the Sierra Madre Boulevard crash but refused a blood transfusion because of her beliefs as a Jehovah’s Witness. She died shortly afterward.

In March, Keith Eric Cook, 33, who had two drinking-related convictions, was convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

In the lawsuit, filed in Pomona Superior Court, Russell’s family alleges that Azusa police and the CHP did not maintain adequate control over passing traffic while the initial accident was being investigated.

Evan L. Ginsburg, the Russells’ attorney, said an Azusa police officer and CHP officer failed to protect those at the accident scene. “We’ve now discovered the Azusa police officer didn’t put out flares . . . and when the CHP took over the scene, they did nothing else,” he said.

Azusa’s city attorney and an attorney for the CHP did not return calls. But Azusa City Councilman Dick Stanford said that although he has compassion for the family’s loss, the drunk driver and subsequent actions were to blame, not the city.

Cook was named in the lawsuit but dropped after his insurer paid $15,000.