Taxpayers to foot bill for mistake by Transportation Department

Wednesday, May 14, 2003 | 9:27 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A mistake by the Nevada Transportation Department is going to cost taxpayers $50,000.

The state Board of Examiners Tuesday voted to award the money to Sierra Pacific Power Co. for an accident involving a company truck carrying an electric breaker unit.

The load on the truck was 15-feet-9 and the driver saw no problem driving under an overpass marked as having 16-feet-6 in clearance. The height on the overpass was only 15-feet-5, and the accident seriously damaged the breaker.

The driver of the truck had the necessary oversized load permit and had contacted the Transportation Department.

The board also awarded $20,000 to Joseph Malone of Carson City when agents of the Nevada Division of Investigations broke into his home early one morning, pulled him and his girlfriend out of bed, handcuffed them and forced them to lie on the floor.

It was 10 minutes before the investigators realized they had served the search warrant on the wrong apartment.

He board also awarded William Barks $25,000 who was taken into custody twice by the investigations division for about 40 minutes of questioning each time. He was never informed of his rights, never told he could leave and denied permission to have his attorney present.

Secretary of State Dean Heller, one of the three members on the board, said all three of these cases could have been avoided. He said efforts should be made to ensure that agencies learn from their mistakes.

He said he was concerned that agencies don't know the legal problems they are creating for the state.

State Budget Director Perry Comeaux said the state needs to work on correcting these errors.