Insurance protects driver who crashes into house, killing family's service dog
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Melody Magallanez made a choice to be a single, foster-to-adopt mother.
Since she started this journey, she has now adopted two children through the foster care system.
"I wanted to raise a family. Here," she said, referring to her house in north Austin. It took her two years to get it certified as a foster home.
Last year, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), a driver trying to drive away from police crashed into the front bedroom of that very house.
"To own a home and working a full-time job, working side jobs, you want to have a safe, loving environment," Magallanez said. "And I just cried because it's your blood, sweat and tears, all gone in one night because someone made a horrible choice... fleeing the police, [destroying] our loving environment and safe place to live."
According to court documents, a trooper who responded to a 911 call about a fight involving weapons outside of a north Austin night club saw a truck speed out of a parking lot with a broken brake light. When the trooper tried to pull the driver over, he sped off, leading the trooper on a chase until he crashed into Magallanez's house.
Photos of the damage are below.
The crash killed her son Micah's service dog, a 2-year-old silver labrador named Noah. Micah was born prematurely and got a late start to walking and talking.
"He was an emotional therapy dog for my son," Magallanez said.
Insurance policy covers driver
The letter Magallanez got from the driver's insurance company delivered another punch.
It said the driver's policy "does not afford coverage for a loss arising out of the use or operation by a covered person of any car while it is being used to flee a law enforcement agent. Therefore, we will be unable to consider any claim for damages made by your client as a result of this loss."
Magallanez said she was in shock.
"I didn't even know this existed, it's truly immoral and should be illegal," she said.
Personal injury attorney Adam Loewy represented Magallanez in this case.
"This was a terrible situation," he said. "These are very controversial exclusions, but unfortunately Texas courts have held that they are valid."
Magallanez said her home insurance covered most of the damage, but not all of it - and not all of the other costs incurred from the crash.
She did sue the driver and an out-of-court settlement was reached, according to Loewy. He said the family would have ended up with more money if the driver didn't have that clause in his insurance protecting him.
"You're right that money doesn't solve everything but the way our civil justice system works is that money is used to acknowledge a hard that was done and acknowledge a wrong that happened," Loewy said.
More than one year after the crash, the driver's case is still making its way through the court system. He currently faces felony charges, but is out on bond. His attorney did not wish to comment.