An insurance adjuster found that the city of Savage “performed appropriately” during a possible hostage situation last October, but the woman involved in the incident wants a $300,000 settlement.

A notice of claim received by Jon Iverson, the League of Minnesota Cities attorney representing the city of Savage, notes that Julie Pyle of Savage also plans to sue DirecTV.

Pyle was the resident who was taken from her home last year at gunpoint and handcuffed after police received a call of a possible hostage situation at a home at 8415 W. 153rd Place in Savage.

A DirecTV dispatcher apparently misunderstood a statement made by one of her installers who was working at Pyle’s home and called 9-1-1 to report that “the lady of the house was holding two of her technicians hostage at gunpoint.”

In reality, it was a difficult satellite installation and the men relayed to the DirecTV dispatcher that they were being “held hostage until they were done” and not in any danger. “He said ‘done’ and she heard ‘gun,’” stated former Police Chief Gordon Vlasak of the Oct. 13, 2006, conversation.

The cities of Savage and Prior Lake and their respective police departments, as well as Scott County and the Scott County Sheriff’s Department, were given notice shortly after the incident that a lawsuit might be filed.

The adjuster denied any claim regarding the city of Savage in his Jan. 17 decision and indicated that the “error rests with DirecTV through their dispatcher.”

However, Pyle’s attorney, Marc Kurzman of Minneapolis, came to a different decision. He concluded that, “while some liability may lay with DirecTV, law enforcement had sufficient notice before guns were put into the face of my client and she was ordered to the ground and handcuffed such that they could have avoided inflicting trauma,” according to a notice of claim dated April 9.

The document also notes that “Pyle suffers Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder … and continues to experience intense fear and helplessness, sleep difficulties, intrusive recollections, panic attacks, difficulties in trusting other and psychological reactivity to internal and external cues resembling the traumatic event.”

The notice of claim is offering the municipal agencies a chance to settle the matter for $300,000 and be released from liability before Pyle proceeds with further action against DirecTV.

The matter is currently being reviewed by Iverson and a decision as to whether the city will settle or proceed to litigation has not yet been made.

 Ruth Anne Maddox can be reached at rmaddox@swpub.com [2].

For past  articles on this topic, go to: www.savagepacer.com/node/380 [2]. For past forums on this topic go to: www.savagepacer.com/node/476 [2] and www.savagepacer.com/node/2297 [2].