Family of Fallen Tampa Police Officer Sues Over Wrong Way Warning System

TAMPA -- The family of a Tampa police officer who gave his life to stop a wrong-way driver is suing the Florida Department of Transportation.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of his widow, Danyelle Madsen, claims that FDOT and its contractor, Transcore, failed to properly maintain a system set up to alert police and drivers to wrong-way traffic on the interstate.

In just over a year -prior to the March 2021 crash that took the life of Master Patrol Officer Jesse Madsen, attorney Steve Yerrid says, five wrong-way drivers were detected trying to go up the offramp of I-275 at Busch Boulevard.

But on the night he died, Yerrid asserts, the system failed to detect 25-year-old Joshua Montague as he rolled onto I-275. "The system didn't work. It never activated, and someone is going to be held responsible," Yerrid said.

Yerrid insists a malfunction made the crash all but inevitable.

"This wasn't an accident. They created a foreseeable zone of risk," Yerrid says.

Mrs. Madsen joined Yerrid for a news conference at the office of his law firm but did not speak. Someone who did speak is Yarrellys Ruiz, a driver who was on the interstate and saw Madsen crash into the wrong way vehicle. Ruiz maintains that if Madsen hadn't taken the blow, the driver would have killed her. Ruiz says the crash affected her mentally. "I don't drive at night... I get scared all the time."

Yerrid says he's suing for damages of more than $30,000.

FDOT has told News Channel 8 it's not commenting on the lawsuit.

Photo: TPD/Canva


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