Wife of restaurant owner killed in North Jersey crash takes legal action

The wife of a Chinese restaurant owner killed when he was struck by a fleeing car during a police chase in Paterson and a woman who survived being hit during the same chase say Passaic County, Paterson and the city Police Department were careless, reckless and negligent.

Jun Ting Pan was fatally hit by a Florida man running from the police in a stolen vehicle two years ago. Harold Rasbin was driving a stolen Honda CRV when he hit a pulled-over police car and sped away. He hit another car, lost control and hit three pedestrians at the intersection of Main and Market streets before striking a traffic light pole. Pan was pronounced dead at the scene.

Pan's wife, Haiyan Wei, and victim Narlyn Gonzalez filed a lawsuit against the county, city and Police Department on May 13, saying the defendants' actions have caused lasting mental and physical pain and torment. Several unidentified police officers were also named in the suit.

The county did not have a comment, and the city and Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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The lawsuit said the Police Department allowed its officers to use their vehicles in a "careless, reckless and negligent" way that caused Pan's death and Gonzalez's injuries. According to the lawsuit, Gonzalez was "disabled and disfigured" from being struck by the car and has had to spend "great and diverse sums of money" for medical care and cannot go about her life as she did previously.

The suit said Passaic County, Paterson and the Paterson Police Department failed to properly hire, supervise and train the officers to operate vehicles during a police pursuit.

Wei said the defendants' negligence has deprived her of her husband. Speaking during a June 2022 press conference, she urged the city to engage with the investigation.

"[I would] like the government of Paterson to fully cooperate with the lawyer's investigations," Wei said through a translator and family representative, Henry Chen, "so we are able to prevent the next tragedy from happening in this town."

The pair are seeking damages and the cost of the lawsuit.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ crash victim's wife files lawsuit against city