Widow Of Ohio Officer Sues Ford Over Crash

CLEVELAND, Ohio —The widow of an Ohio patrolman is suing Ford Motor Co., blaming the officer’s death on engineering problems with the cruiser he was driving when it crashed into a pole and caught fire on Interstate 90 near Cleveland.
   
Linda Brentar says in a lawsuit filed this week that the fuel tank on the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor is so vulnerable to puncture that it exploded in the 2007 accident that killed her husband, 49-year-old George Brentar.  Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans says the Ford Crown Victoria is designed to the highest rear-crash safety standards in the industry and that no vehicle can be expected to prevent all injuries in that type of collision.
   
After Brentar’s death, the Euclid Police Department, where he worked, installed fire suppression systems in its fleet of Crown Victorias.

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