CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — The estate of a man who died while fleeing from Harrison County sheriff’s deputies two years ago has filed a lawsuit in Harrison County Circuit Court.
Trevor Moore, acting as the administrator of Bryan Howard’s estate, filed a lawsuit on Monday that names the Harrison County Commission (as the governing body of the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office), the former Sheriff Robert Matheny, and two unnamed deputies as defendants.
The suit claims that deputies involved in the October 2023 pursuit of Howard after he refused to pull over on a motorcycle are alleged to have not been properly trained and should have ended the pursuit as soon as it became dangerous, which violated law enforcement policies and state law.
In the lawsuit, it states that deputies tried to pull Bryan Howard over after he did not come to a complete stop at a stop sign in Summit Park while riding a motorcycle. Howard then led deputies on a chase, which at times reached speeds as high as 115 miles per hour, and ended after he hit a parked camper. Howard was flung off the motorcycle after he hit a telephone pole and later died at the hospital from his injuries.
It also claims that after the wreck, deputies allegedly interfered in Howard’s medical care by putting him in handcuffs before emergency personnel arrived, with one deputy accused of intentionally delaying EMS to collect fingerprint samples.
The lawsuit seeks damages for wrongful death, pain and suffering, negligence, reckless conduct, loss of enjoyment of life, and severe emotional distress. The case is assigned to Harrison Circuit Judge D. Andrew McMunn.