KTAR News reported that an Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper was arrested on an allegation of sexual misconduct involving a woman following a hit-and-run. According to the report, investigators opened an inquiry into the allegations and identified the trooper involved. Investigators contacted the trooper, and he acknowledged having a physical interaction with the woman. No one has been convicted of anything, and the allegations remain allegations.
When the person suspected of leaving the scene of a collision is a law enforcement officer, an injured person faces two tracks at once: a criminal investigation the state controls, and a civil claim the injured person controls. Arizona requires a driver involved in a crash involving injury to stop and remain at the scene under A.R.S. § 28-661, and that duty applies to officers on duty. But a civil claim against a state trooper or the agency that employs him runs on a government timetable. Under A.R.S. § 12-821.01, a written notice of claim must be served on the public entity and on each individual employee within 180 days of when the claim accrues, and it must state a specific settlement amount along with the facts supporting it. Miss that deadline and the claim is barred no matter how strong the evidence; the general two-year personal injury deadline in A.R.S. § 12-542 does not rescue it.
The 180-Day Notice of Claim Is the Deadline That Actually Controls
Most people hear "two years" and assume they have time. Against a state agency or a state employee, they do not. A.R.S. § 12-821.01 requires notice within 180 days of accrual, served on the public entity itself and separately on any employee you intend to sue personally. Serving only the agency does not preserve the claim against the individual, and serving only the individual does not preserve it against the agency.
The notice has to contain a specific dollar amount the claimant will accept to settle, plus facts sufficient to let the entity evaluate liability. A demand that says "policy limits" or "to be determined" has been held insufficient. This is the single most common way meritorious claims against government defendants die, and it dies quietly; the entity simply does not respond, and the clock runs out. If a government vehicle or a government employee may have been involved in your injury, the notice should be drafted and served long before the investigation is finished. You do not need to know the outcome of a criminal case to file it.
Leaving the Scene Is a Separate Wrong From Causing the Crash
A.R.S. § 28-661 imposes a duty to stop, remain at the scene, and render reasonable assistance when a collision results in injury. A driver can be liable for the underlying collision, for leaving, or for both. The flight itself matters in a civil case for practical reasons: it delays medical care, it destroys the scene evidence that would otherwise have been documented, and it is relevant to a jury assessing credibility and conduct.
Arizona also uses pure comparative fault under A.R.S. § 12-2505, which means an injured person's recovery is reduced by their own percentage of fault but is never eliminated by it. Even if an insurer or an agency argues you share some responsibility, that argument reduces the claim rather than ending it. Do not let a comparative fault accusation talk you out of filing.
Practical Steps When a Government Employee May Be Involved
Get medical care and keep every record, including the first visit, because the gap between the incident and the first treatment is the first thing an adjuster looks for. Write down your own account while it is fresh, in your own words, dated. Request a copy of any report that was generated, and note the report number. Preserve clothing, devices, and anything else that was with you.
Send a written preservation request for agency records: body camera and dash camera footage, dispatch audio, vehicle telematics, and internal investigation files. Retention schedules are short, and footage is routinely overwritten on a fixed cycle. Do not give a recorded statement to any insurer or investigator before you understand what claims you have. And calendar the 180-day notice deadline the day you learn a public employee may have been involved, not the day the criminal case resolves.
If you were injured in a collision in the Phoenix area, our Arizona car accident attorneys can evaluate the notice of claim deadlines that apply to your case.