The widow of Brooks Stuart Patterson has filed a lawsuit over the February snowmobile crash that killed her Lake Orion husband, the son of Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson.
Jessie Patterson filed a wrongful death lawsuit last Friday in Oakland County Circuit Court against six men, seeking $25,000 in damages.
The 28-year-old Patterson was riding as a passenger on Atlas Township’s Lake Shinanguag on the evening of Feb. 10, when the accident occurred. He died the next day.
It was announced in July by the Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office that criminal charges would not be filed in the case.
‘The statute requires that we prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a snowmobile was operated in a careless and heedless manner in willful and wanton disregard of the rights or safety of others. Based on the investigation, there is insufficient evidence to meet that standard,? said Prosecutor David Leyton, regarding the criminal charges.
— Citizen Staff Writer Laurel Droz contributed to this report.