Officers Sued by Family of Woman Left Dying in Car

Two California Highway Patrol officers who left a critically ill woman in her car by the side of the Riverside Freeway were sued Friday by her children. The woman died two hours later.

The two officers found Kristin Marie Harrington, 43, of Cypress about 2 a.m. on July 18 in her Mazda on the freeway shoulder near Coal Canyon Road, according to the suit and to the CHP. Harrington had vomit on her clothes but was alive.

After checking on her, the officers left her sprawled across the front seat of the car. A passing tow truck driver stopped at 5:15 a.m. and notified authorities from a nearby call box. Another CHP patrol unit arrived within minutes and the new officer determined that Harrington was dead.

Investigators at the Orange County coroner’s office said Harrington died of a brain aneurysm about 4 a.m.

Aneurysms are sacs formed by weakened artery walls, caused by disease or age, that can rupture and spur fatal hemorrhaging.

The case angered survivors of brain aneurysms, who said Harrington showed classic signs of having suffered such an attack, and they called for more training to help police recognize them.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Orange County Superior Court by Scott Moore of Idaho and Tami Marie Ramirez of Orange County, names Officers J. Patton and J. Mostoufi and the Highway Patrol.