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Judge Grants Motion for Summary Judgment for Failure to Appear
Travis Abston Sr. failed to appear at a court hearing on the request of the city of Kokomo and the town of Battle Ground resulting in a Tippecanoe County judge granting a Motion for Summary Judgment. The two communities were sued last year by Abston who alleged negligence by both defendants had resulted in the death of his son, Travis Abston Jr.
Abston, Sr. is seeking a judgment against the defendants and financial damages. Abston Jr., was 15 years old when he died in a crash during a police pursuit in September 2018 when he was driving his father’s car. An autopsy revealed methamphetamine in his system.
The Kokomo Police Department considered Travis Abston, Jr. “possibly armed and dangerous” and possibly intending to injure a person in Kokomo, at the time of the crash. After the crash, no gun was found on Abston, Jr.
Whether Abston, Jr. should have been designated as “possibly armed and dangerous” is mostly what Abston’s lawsuit focuses on. Abston, Sr. alleges Town Marshal, Jerry Burk, told Kokomo police department the teen was or could be in possession of a gun after seeing a 2017 photo on the teen’s cell phone of him holding a gun.