Carlton County attorney sued over car crash

On this much, everyone agrees: On Nov. 18, Carlton County Attorney Thom Pertler and Cloquet resident Tracy Vargason were in a minor car accident at Minnesota 33 and Big Lake Road in Cloquet.

No one was hurt, but events after that have spiraled to where Vargason is suing Pertler, claiming he was responsible for the accident and should cover her $1,000 deductible for car repairs, and that what he told his insurance company differs from his initial statement to police.

Meanwhile, the Cloquet Police Department acknowledges its officers should have done more to investigate and document the accident.

"This whole thing is crazy," said Vargason, 43, who works for the Minnesota Department of Revenue in the Sales and Use Tax Department. "It was such a minor accident and it never had to come to this."

Because it's currently in litigation, Pertler said he had no comment on the case, except to say: "It's my position that I was in the right of way."

That's where the disagreement begins.

Vargason said she was heading north on Minnesota 33 when she made a left turn onto Big Lake Road and collided with Pertler, who she claims was making a right turn onto Big Lake Road on a red light.

"When the police asked what happened, I responded that he hit me," Vargason said. "He didn't refute that at all. If he thought I was turning on red, you would think he would say that then. I didn't realize he was going to change his story."

Vargason said that after she submitted her

insurance claims, Pertler's insurance company responded by saying she was at fault for the accident by turning on a red light.

But police reports indicate that Pertler didn't challenge Vargason's assessment of the accident shortly after it occurred. According to one report, an officer wrote Vargason was making a "left turn" on the green arrow when Pertler made a right turn and both tried to enter the same lane at the same time. The officer coded Pertler's turn as being done on a red light.

That report wasn't written until Vargason asked for it on Dec. 5 - two and a half weeks after the accident.

Cloquet Deputy Police Chief Terry Hill acknowledges the delay in writing the report was a mistake.

Accident reports don't have to be written by police unless the damage exceeds $1,000. In the Dec. 5 report, the officer said he "observed very minor damage to both vehicles."

Vargason said the damage to her car exceeded $2,500 because the right-side quarter panel and the fender of her car were smashed in.

"There should have been a report done at that time by the officer," Hill said, adding that officers also should have also taken photos of the damage. "In this case, my officers could have and probably should have asked additional questions at the scene of all parties."

Hill said the mistake was not because of Pertler's position as county attorney and that the officers in fact knew Vargason, too.

"My officers knew both parties when they arrived at the scene," Hill said.

Hill said he told the officers who responded to the accident to write additional reports, which were filed on Jan. 17, two months after the crash.

Officer David Hallback wrote that when he asked about the crash, Pertler said "he was taking his son to hockey practice and he was scooting across the parking lot and the two collided."

Vargason took that to mean Pertler was at fault.

"He was in a rush to get to hockey practice," she said.

But both officers wrote that because there were no witnesses to the crash, they could not determine who was at fault.

Vargason, who said she has known Hallback for several years, said because officers knew her and Pertler it's likely "that they didn't follow all of the steps they should have; they didn't follow the procedures."

"I hate to think (Pertler) got preferential treatment, because that would be a sad commentary on the Cloquet Police Department," Vargason added.

Insurance companies for both sides are in arbitration deciding who was at fault for the accident. Until that's settled, the small-claims lawsuit she filed against Pertler was put on hold Monday by Judge Daniel Kammeyer.

The arbitration is expected to be settled sometime next month, Vargason said.