Crash Victim Plans To Sue Sheriff's Office

BROOKSVILLE - The family of an 11-year-old girl hit by a deputy's car plans to sue the sheriff's office.

The notice of claim was filed in January on behalf of the victim, Mauria Stringer, who was struck while waiting for her school bus early in the morning of Dec. 14, 2007.

Because there is no sidewalk outside her home in Royal Highlands, Stringer was standing just off the road in the grass, the claim states.

That's in contradiction to the Florida Highway Patrol's report, which states Stringer was standing about seven feet in the roadway of Thrasher Avenue.

Deputy Julio Tagliani, who was driving below the speed limit because of heavy fog, was on his way to work and glanced down at his onboard laptop. When he looked back up he saw the girl, but it was too late, FHP concluded.

According to the claim, the impact knocked her into the air and her landing knocked her temporarily unconscious. She was treated at Oak Hill hospital for leg pain and "multiple contusions," according to FHP.

An official review of the incident by the sheriff's office determined that the accident was not preventable.

A notice of claim is required procedure before a lawsuit against a public entity can go forward.