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Saturday, November 01, 2008

Roanoke woman sues driver in hit-and-run

Daryn Beck is seeking $2 million after a man ran over her twice in a parking lot.

A woman who was run over not once but twice last year in the parking lot of a Roanoke County bar is asking for $2 million from the driver who hit her.

Daryn Beck, 33, of Roanoke filed a lawsuit on Thursday in Roanoke County Circuit Court against Michael Scott Gusler, who in September was convicted of felony hit-and-run and other charges in the incident. He is scheduled to be sentenced in January on the criminal charges.

Beck's lawsuit says Gusler, a Roanoke County man who was 27 when he was arrested last year, was negligent and reckless on the night of Nov. 3 when he backed his sport utility vehicle over her, then ran forward over her despite someone standing in front of his vehicle, waving, and other people shouting that he had hit someone.

Beck was left with injuries to her hip, ribs, knee, wrist, liver, lung, esophagus, scalp and back. The lawsuit said she continues to suffer pain and require medical care.

She is asking for $1 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages, plus the costs of bringing the lawsuit.

Beck's injuries occurred at the end of an altercation that involved her, Gusler and their friends. Her lawsuit includes a description of events that echoes one given by Beck's friends at Gusler's criminal trial.

The lawsuit says Beck and a friend had come to The Cellar on Brambleton Avenue and were told their vehicle was blocking a driveway. Beck went to move the vehicle and struck Gusler's Ford Explorer. Gusler and his then-girlfriend were walking out of The Cellar and saw the incident, and an argument began between Beck and Gusler's girlfriend.

Eventually, the girlfriend jumped on Beck's back and was pulled off by another man. Gusler and his girlfriend got into the Explorer, and Gusler punched the man through the window. As Gusler drove away, the man kicked out his tail light, the lawsuit said.

Gusler then put his vehicle in reverse and ran over Beck. People in the now-crowded parking lot began to shout that he'd hit someone, and another friend jumped in front of the SUV, the lawsuit said.

But Gusler drove forward, running over Beck again, and left the scene.

At Gusler's criminal trial, his attorney argued that Gusler had not realized he hit Beck and could not understand what people were shouting.

Testimony from a criminal trial can be used in a civil lawsuit, but a criminal conviction can only become evidence in a civil trial if the defendant pleaded guilty. Gusler admitted no guilt in his criminal trial.

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