Court: Cop entitled to compensation
by Carli Brosseau on Mar. 25, 2008, under Local, SpecialThe Arizona Court of Appeals ruled Friday that an off-duty Tucson police officer shot in the back near Oracle in 2006 qualifies for workers’ compensation.
The ruling overturns the decision of an administrative law judge last year who ruled that Lt. Kelly Lane was not acting as a police officer when he was wounded.
Lane was shot Aug. 19, 2006, while mountain biking with friends. Two men nearby were out target shooting near dusk and fired in the direction of the bikers. The men were offered an agreement to plead guilty to one count of aggravated assault, nondangerous nature, with a sentence ranging from probation to eight years in prison. The outcome of the offer couldn’t be determined Monday.
“I thought we were in the midst of a drug deal gone bad or a kidnapping,” Lane said in an interview Monday.
Lane, a narcotics officer, leapt from a place of relative safety to shield a friend, and a bullet hit him in the lower right side of his back, he said Monday. Lane’s pelvis cracked, his pancreas was perforated and a major artery to his heart was cut, Lane said.
Three months and $1 million in medical care later, Lane went back to work, his voice weaker and his right leg numb, he said.
He filed a claim for workers’ compensation but was denied. The Industrial Commission of Arizona, which handles all state worker’s compensation claims, found that Lane’s injuries could not be attributed to his work.
Lane appealed the decision to the administrative judge, who upheld the commission.
By contract, Tucson police are never completely off-duty. Department policy says, “Off duty officers shall act in an official capacity if they observe an incident requiring police action when time is of the essence, or if such action will safeguard life, property, or prevent the escape of a felon or violent criminal.”
Lane’s lawyers argued to the court that the rule makes it clear that it’s the officer’s responsibility to act. The appeals court, in a precedent-setting decision published Friday, ruled that Lane was acting as a police officer, said Lane’s lawyer, Brian Clymer.
The case now goes back to the Industrial Commission.
For Lane, who had never taken a sick day before he was shot, the decision means he may get back 27 years’ worth of sick leave and the co-pays for the medical costs paid by his private insurance. It also means he may get more coverage for long-term medical problems.
City and state officials were not available for comment Monday.
