BRANDON, Fla. — A widow is suing the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office over a deputy-involved crash that killed her 74-year-old husband, alleging the deputy was driving nearly 100 mph without emergency lights or sirens activated.
Pamela Martin filed the lawsuit after her husband, Michael Keen, a Vietnam veteran and retired commercial truck driver, died in the Feb. 26, 2021, crash while driving to his part-time job as a courtesy driver at a GMC dealership.
WATCH: Lawsuit alleges deputy driving 97 mph without lights and siren killed driver
"That morning I got my last kiss and my last 'I love you' from him," Martin said.
Deputy speeding to call involving elementary school kids’ fight
According to the lawsuit, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Deputy Devin Wooden was responding to a fight involving elementary school children on a school bus when he crashed into Keen's pickup truck at an intersection.
"This was not a life-threatening situation," said attorney John Castro, who represents Martin.
Castro said the records show other deputies were also responding to the call, meaning Wooden was not the only officer heading to the scene.
Surveillance video from a nearby car dealership shows Keen pulling his pickup truck into a left turn lane and waiting for traffic to clear.
As he made his turn, Wooden's patrol car was traveling an estimated 142 feet per second - covering two football fields in just three seconds.
"Based on the FHP investigation, the electronic data recorder, the black box data, that Deputy Wooden was traveling 97 miles an hour on Adamo leading up to this crash. That's a 50-mile-an-hour zone," Castro said.
Martin questioned why deputies are allowed to drive at such high speeds on surface roads during morning rush hour.
"Why in the world would they allow their deputies to go almost double the speed limit on a surface road at that hour of the morning when there's other people on the road too?" she said.
Deputy: “I can’t stay under the radar.”
The video shows Wooden's patrol car turning right directly into the truck's path instead of continuing straight.
"The deputy is coming this way, and instead of going straight, he followed the trajectory of Michael's truck," Martin said.
The patrol car struck the truck, pinning it against a utility pole.
The first crash report showed Keen was wearing a seatbelt, but Wooden was not.
Body camera footage captured Wooden saying to a trooper at the scene: "I can't stay under the radar to save my life."
Martin was called by her husband's coworkers and rushed to Tampa General Hospital on the day of the crash.
Keen never regained consciousness, and Martin made the difficult decision to remove life support a week later.
"They removed his life support and within an hour he was gone," Martin said. "Very tough. And it still is. Not a day goes by that I don't think about him."
Castro said Wooden did not face any charges or disciplinary action in connection with the crash - no seatbelt violation, speeding violation, or careless driving charges.
"Do you think most people would have gotten away with that had they hit somebody at 97 miles an hour, not wearing a seatbelt?" Castro was asked.
"No, I don't think so," he replied.
HCSO attorneys blame Keen in court filing
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office did not respond to requests for comment, as the agency doesn't comment on ongoing litigation.
In court documents, attorneys for the sheriff's office blame Keen for the crash, saying he made an illegal left turn.
The filing states: "Michael A. Keen conducted himself in a careless or negligent manner, and said carelessness or negligence was a contributing or was the sole proximate cause of the injuries."
Court records show multiple attempts to resolve the case have failed.
"They always say to serve and protect. They didn't serve Michael and they didn't protect him. And they didn't serve me because they didn't protect him," Martin said.
Martin hopes something positive will come from her loss, including changes to HCSO policy involving speeding.
Currently, HCSO deputies have wide discretion when it comes to speeding.
"If he'd have only been going 70 miles an hour... we wouldn't be sitting here today," Martin said.
Jury selection in the trial is scheduled to begin on Monday.
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