CLAYTON, Mo. — General Motors knew eight years before Officer Craig Tudor was paralyzed in a rollover crash that its police Impalas had “poor roof strength,” according to a lawsuit filed by Tudor.
“GM in its internal documents are describing its own car with poor roof strength,” Tudor’s attorney Grant Davis told jurors this week during opening statements. “GM decided not to spend the money to do a complete fix of the 2012 police car roof for financial reasons.”
Tudor was responding to a call in Hazelwood in 2016 with his lights and sirens activated along westbound on North Outer Road 270 when a driver crossed the center line and smashed into his police cruiser.
The impact sent Tudor’s car onto its roof.
He was critically injured and paralyzed.
Attorney Michael Cooney is representing General Motors and told jurors that the roof on the automaker’s 2012 Impala police package models exceeded safety standards at the time and did not cause Tudor’s injuries. He told jurors that rollover crashes have been studied extensively.
“Our necks are made to help hold up our heads, not the forces in a collision and that's how this injury occurs,” he told jurors. “It occurs before roof crush even begins to happen.
“Roof crush doesn't contribute to this kind of injury.”
This is the third time this case is going to trial.
The first trial ended in a mistrial after jurors discussed the case before deliberations began. The second ended in a hung jury.
This trial is scheduled to last until May 17 in St. Louis County.
The Tudors declined to comment while the trial is underway.