Prince George’s County has agreed to settle a case for more than a quarter-million dollars after a county police officer drove the wrong way on Route 1 in Beltsville and hit another driver head-on.
The driver who was hit says the county was trying to blame her for the crash, which happened in 2021. She later filed a lawsuit, asking them to pay her medical bills.
Dramatic dashcam video recorded inside the police cruiser shows the moments when Cpl. Quan Lac drove in the median down Route 1 and then hit the median and crossed over into oncoming traffic, hitting driver Yong-Mi Kim.
“I was knocked out of conscious. My car was totaled,” Kim said. “I had chest pains. I had burns. I thought I was possibly dead, because I saw white light at the tunnel.”
Four years later, Kim still suffers lingering health issues, she said.
She filed a lawsuit against Lac and Prince George’s County for gross negligence. An internal police report shows three Prince George’s County police supervisors found there was employee error and the crash was preventable.
“I just want to send a message that what happened to me is not OK,” Kim said.
But Prince George’s County initially tried to argue it shouldn’t have to pay Kim’s medical bills and that the crash was partially her fault.
An attorney for the county had submitted a court filing, saying, “Because Ms. Kim was holding her phone with at least one hand, she could not have both hands on the steering wheel, as needed to avoid an accident.”
Kim insisted she was paying attention, and court documents showed the police supervisor who was in charge that day later testified, “She’s not at fault.”
“What I experienced was a lot of blame,” Kim said. “And I feel like in many ways, they have revictimized me over and over again.”
The lawsuit trial was supposed to take place this week.
But two days after Kim’s story aired on News4 late last month, her attorney says Prince George’s County agreed to settle. The county is still denying liability but has agreed to pay Kim $275,000.
“It wasn’t so much about the amount of the money as it was, they were no longer going to blame her,” Steve Markey, Kim’s attorney, said.
Prince George’s County declined to comment for this story.
The police department did confirm Lac is still on the force and did not face any discipline for this crash.
News4 obtained a document showing the county paid another settlement for a Quan Lac back in 2021, for a different incident. That settlement was for $2,690.64 for auto liability. The police department refused to answer any of our questions about that case.
Get the D.C. area’s top news and weather delivered to your inbox every morning. Sign up for First & 4Most, our free newsletter.
Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.
