Plaintiff’s wife fatally injured in 2005 crash in Waukesha
By David Doege
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin)
Copyright 2007 Journal Sentinel Inc.
WAUKESHA, Wis. — The husband of a woman killed in 2005 when the car she was driving was struck by an ambulance is suing the company operating the service and the ambulance driver.
Gregg Theune of Waukesha filed the lawsuit against Kettle Moraine Emergency Medical Services Inc. of Waukesha and Jennifer Dalleska, who now lives in Michigan.
Ted Larsen, owner of the company, was out of town Wednesday and could not be reached for comment. Dalleska also could not be reached for comment.
Lucinda “Cindy” L. Theune, 50, died from a head injury suffered in the collision on April 8, 2005, in Waukesha. She died two days later.
An intensive care and emergency room nurse, Theune was traveling east through a green light on Summit Ave. when her 2001 Mazda Protegé was struck on the passenger side by a Kettle Moraine ambulance at 9:40 a.m.
The ambulance, with its lights and sirens operating, was going north on Meadowbrook Road, carrying a physician and two nurses in addition to the ambulance attendants. The ambulance was taking a perinatal team from Waukesha Memorial Hospital to Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital.
The lawsuit says that Theune was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash and tried unsuccessfully to avoid a collision when she noticed the ambulance approaching her car.
The suit contends that Dalleska “was a driver of lesser experience (than the woman sitting beside her acting as lookout) and was a driver who had a propensity to drive recklessly and/or too fast for conditions.”
The ambulance firm, the lawsuit contends, was negligent in failing to provide “appropriate supervision and training,” had inappropriate policies in place for drivers and was not diligent in making sure the rig was in good running order, among other things.
The lawsuit, filed in Waukesha County Circuit Court, seeks unspecified damages.