Girl Sues Dad Who Was Shot in Road Rage Incident

[RamboLiberal]

When Thomas Timko made an obscene hand gesture to a driver who irked him, he may not have predicted the disastrous chain of events he set in motion -- but his daughter believes he could and should have, and she's suing him to prove it.

Driving home in October 2008 after taking his daughter Kaitlyn, now 11, for a day of shopping and swimming, Timko became angry when another driver cut him off on the Walt Whitman Bridge near Philadelphia, and flipped the guy the finger.

Unfortunately for Timko, he picked the wrong driver to tick off. Christian Squillaciotti, a schizophrenic former Marine with a gun, responded by firing four times into Timko's car, striking him in the head.

-----

Now Kaitlyn, through Hardwerk, is suing her father for compensation, saying his road rage not only provoked his own shooting, but left her with lasting emotional scars.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/girl-sues-dad-shot-road-rage-incident/story?id=14004813

Geez, I find that kind of cold.

[david_vincent]

1. Flipping somebody off is not road rage

shooting at someone, or pulling over and going at him with a baseball bat, is.

[pnwmom]

17. No, but it can set off a chain of unfortunate events, as it did in this instance.

You never know how the driver you're flipping off is going to react.

[AtheistCrusader]

27. Sorry, I can flip people off all day long, with or without cause, no one is justified in shooting me

for it.

'set off' my ass.

[GreenStormCloud]

37. It is your right to flip somebody off. But it is stupid if you do.

You don't know how the other person will react. If they react violently then you have to deal with a violent situation that you would not have had to otherwise.

I carry a gun and NEVER flip anybody off. I don't need the risk that the situation may escalate into a shooting situation.

[AtheistCrusader]

38. Stupid, yes.

But would it minimize the crime committed by the other person, by attacking you? No. It does not justify a violent assault.

(I agree, I am most amiable when I am carrying a firearm.)

[tammywammy]

2. Pertinent paragraphs

"But it's exactly this type of treatment that Hardwerk, who has not worked since a 2001 car accident left her disabled, says she cannot afford, and the initial insurance payout didn't cover."

"Even more surprising, perhaps, than the decision to sue her own father, Kaitlyn's suit doesn't name his shooter, Christian Squilliacotti. While he may seem the most obvious target for a lawsuit, Squillaciotti -- who was convicted of two counts of attempted murder and weapons charges and is currently serving a 13- to 26-year jail term -- has no assets, and his insurance would actually not apply because the shooting was intentional. The former Marine has also been diagnosed with schizophrenia."

"The suit doesn't accuse Timko of routine reckless behavior or general bad parenting, and it's likely Timko is aware this may be his daughter's only way of supporting her ongoing psychological care."

[pnwmom]

3. According to various other articles, this was a way

to try to get her father's insurance company to pay for the daughter's necessary care. The wife of the other driver is also being sued, because she let him drive her car even knowing that he was impaired.

The father has no assets and can't pay for this, and has no objection to the mother doing what her lawyer recommended. It's considered a longshot case, however.

[gejohnston]

9. I would rather see national health care for all than this

[pnwmom]

11. Of course. n/t

[no_hypocrisy]

4. She's not suing. Her mother is by using the daughter.

[pnwmom]

5. Which is the way lawyers said they might be able to get the insurance company

to pay for the daughter's necessary psychiatric care after the incident.

The mother was already disabled and now, after the accident, the father is also severely disabled.

[brewens]

6. I don't even have to be really mad to flip someone off. Sometimes

I flip people off out of principal because they have it coming to them. I'd rather not but I feel obligated. Those are the rules.

[pnwmom]

7. There is no rule or obligation to flip people off

and it's really kind of dumb considering you don't know how crazy the driver in the next car might be.

That goes double when you have a child in the back seat.

[X_Digger]

15. +1

It's just not worth it. In the grand scheme of things, what does it matter?

[PavePusher]

24. I think there was some sarcasm in there.... n/t

[spin]

12. I used to flip people off while driving then I got a concealed weapons permit ...

and I carry. I have never given another driver the one finger salute since.

Perhaps Robert Heinlein was right when he said, "An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life. "

[JackintheGreen]

13. That was you?!?

argle argle argle bargle :mad:

[AtheistCrusader]

28. I don't even give people the thumbs up for a nice car or whatever

for fear it will be misinterpreted at a glance.

[brewens]

29. I actually use the universal "what can you do" arms and hands

raised display aimed at the other people that witness the idiot in traffic more that the finger.

[MADem]

8. What--did the schizophrenic Marine not have any money?

More than "cold"--that's cold AND calculated! The ex-girlfriend/child's mother is 'disabled' and can't work, so she's looking for a payday from her ex, who's screwed up himself and probably doesn't have the money that the mother wants.

If the jury finds for the child, I hope they appoint someone to manage the money so that Momma does make hay with it.

The goal is to get the insurance company to fork over the money...but I think that might be a long row to hoe:

"Insurance can only insure against what is a forseeable risk," Ladov said. "And if the risk is not forseeable and the gentleman who is the shooter has no assets and the insurance policy on her dad's vehicle doesn't cover it, Kaitlyn's out of luck."

Kaitlyn and her father have handled the situation by simply not discussing the case, Hardwerk said, but Fassler cautioned that if the suit does create further friction between Kaitlyn's parents there's a danger it may still be counterproductive for Kaitlyn herself.

"Ongoing conflict between parents, with or without legal involvement, puts kids at increased risk of emotional and behavioral problems, Fassler said. "In general, the sooner things get resolved, the better, for everyone involved."

[pnwmom]

10. The father doesn't object to the suit. It's what the lawyer recommended.

And yes, it's a long shot.

But it's not pitting the father against his daughter or her mother because he, like the mother, is unable to take care of her medical needs, and he isn't objecting to the suit.

[SteveM]

14. I discovered a new twist in the cell phone/driving rage...

Recently, while delivering trash to a re-cycler, I came upon a car stopped at a green light. The driver was "twattering" (given the location of the device) and wasn't paying attention. I honked and he looked up, put the car into gear and drove. But he resumed his zombie gaze and slowed to a crawl. I passed around to the right (4-lane), and started to pass in front of the texture. As I did so he sped up, hit his brakes and honked. I looked into the rear view and shook my head. He continued to follow me for several blocks, driving slowly past me when I stopped at the re-cycle facility, then drove past. Within 5 minutes an Austin PD officer stopped in the middle of the street near me and shouted for me to step away from the van: I was looking down the business end of an AR-15.

The officer, still holding me at gunpoint, told me that the other driver said I pointed a gun at him. I told him that was bull, and he could search the van. He didn't bother, apologized, and said that this "kind of thing" was common in Austin; not texting and twattering while driving, but phoning the cops when someone objects to the a cell phone zombie's driving, and making false accusations. Nice world these punks have brought to us.

[pnwmom]

16. Lucky for you that you didn't have a gun. How would you have

defended yourself against this guy's false accusation? What would the cop have done, I wonder, with just his word against yours? I'm glad you didn't have to find out.

[RamboLiberal]

20. But if you did have a gun & story was posted here

Many would have you guilty. Like the PA state senator who was a Repub and got accused. Not saying he was guilty but it was his word against an aggresive driver. State police took the other driver's word on this one with no proof except the state senator had 2 guns in the car.

[pnwmom]

22. So what happened to the state senator? Were charges pressed? n/t

[RamboLiberal]

33. yep got some minor conviction - may be fighting it

[SteveM]

36. Yep, punking is a dangerous business. The most disturbing thing...

is that the cop said that Austin, TX is the worst place in Texas about the practice. He never asked to search the van, perhaps because some blowhole on a cell phone was not probably cause. Had I had a gun, I would have informed the officer, then insisted that the case be pursued, up to and including prosecution for falsely reporting a crime.

[ileus]

19. cell phones are the devil for sure...and vlingo sucks ass.

[SteveM]

35. Cell phones are great for certain things...

like emergencies, routine household activities, and when injured and far from help; otherwise, they seem to complicate, confuse and slow down rather pedestrian activities. In a grocery store last night: I saw a guy on a cell arguing with (presumably) the other phone user about the price/quantity of some cough medicine. Such wasteful gas.

[Anakin Skywalker]

21. Why are the egomaniacs so obsessed with constantly tweeting others on their activities/whereabouts?

[SteveM]

34. Don't know, but their punking is dangerous reality. nt

[ileus]

18. I suppose she holds the shooter innocent...

[pnwmom]

23. No, she doesn't. But the shooter's insurance company won't pay

because it wasn't an accidental shooting. So the lawyer has advised her to sue the owner of the car (who let her schizophrenic husband drive it) and the father who flipped off the other driver.

This is about insurance companies and lawyers more than it is about a daughter and her father, or two ex-spouses. The father doesn't oppose the lawsuit. It might be the only way to get his daughter the psychiatric care she now needs -- though the lawsuit is unlikely to succeed, according to some of those interviewed.

[ileus]

25. lawsuit lottery...it's about money not therapy.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

26. No. It's about a fucked up privatized for-profit health care system...

... where family members are forced to sue each other to get care. Or elderly couples are forced to divorce each other to get care.

[pnwmom]

31. It's true that this wouldn't be an issue with socialized medicine,

assuming that it paid for psychiatric care on the same basis as other medical conditions.

[pnwmom]

30. The money is to pay for the daughter's medical care, which is expensive

and not covered by insurance.

[AtheistCrusader]

32. Sure it is.