Fales v. County of Stanton, 297 Neb. 41

At ~12:45 a.m., two minors (driver Irish and passenger Fales) left a party in a pickup after drinking; a Stanton County deputy (Petersen) began following for traffic violations and activated emergency lights.
The pickup accelerated; while being followed, beer (a 30-pack box and cans) was observed being thrown from the vehicle.
Petersen radioed that beer was being thrown and considered the act destruction of evidence; he perceived the occupants as possibly minors and broadened his apprehension to those in the vehicle.
The pickup later crashed at high speed; Fales suffered severe injuries and sued the County under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 13-911 claiming he was an “innocent third party.”
The district court found Fales lost innocent-third-party status when he threw beer (as observed during the pursuit) and entered judgment for the County. The County’s cross-claim challenging § 13-911’s constitutionality was not adjudicated on appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Fales was an “innocent third party” under § 13-911 (i.e., not sought to be apprehended or having promoted flight)	Fales argued he remained an innocent third party because the pursuit began for a traffic violation and he was not the original target	County argued that when Fales threw beer (observed by the deputy) during the pursuit he became a person sought to be apprehended and thus not an innocent third party	Court held Fales lost innocent-third-party status when he discarded beer during the pursuit (as observed by deputy), so § 13-911 claim fails
Whether the Court needed to resolve County’s cross-appeal challenging constitutionality of § 13-911	Fales implicitly argued County’s constitutional challenge was not dispositive to his § 13-911 claim	County asked to invalidate § 13-911 as unconstitutional	Court declined to reach constitutional challenge because judgment for County on innocent-third-party issue made it unnecessary

Werner v. County of Platte, 284 Neb. 899 (2012) (discussing innocent-third-party standard when passenger later found to have committed unrelated crime)
Henery v. City of Omaha, 263 Neb. 700 (2001) (legislative concern with third party actions relative to driver’s flight)
Jura v. City of Omaha, 15 Neb. App. 390 (2007) (passenger in stolen vehicle held a person sought to be apprehended)
Williams v. City of Omaha, 291 Neb. 403 (2015) (standards for appellate review in Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act actions)