Business settled lawsuit with widow of officer killed in crash

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    BRENTWOOD, Tennessee (WSMV) — A Franklin business settled a lawsuit with the widow of Brentwood officer killed in a crash last June.

The attorney for Heather Legieza said his client had settled her lawsuit against Kimbro’s Pickin’ Parlor in Franklin. Heather’s husband 30-year-old Officer Destin Legieza died in a head-on collision in June 2020.

“It is a fair settlement given the circumstances towards making it right for Mrs. Legieza,” attorney Brandon Bass told News 4.

Ashley Biance Ruth Kroese was charged with vehicular homicide. The lawsuit claims that at about midnight on June 18, 2020, an employee at Kimbro’s Pickin’ Parlor began serving alcoholic drinks to Kroese. The lawsuit also claims the employee serving Kroese knew she had consumed alcoholic beverages earlier that evening.

According to the lawsuit, the employee continued to serve Kroese even though she was visibly intoxicated. One or more of Kimbro’s employees knew that Kroese later left the business and knew that he car was nearby.

Somewhere near 4:30 a.m., police said Kroese drove her vehicle north on Franklin Road from downtown toward Brentwood with no headlights. After she passed through Concord Road’s intersection, she crossed from the northbound lanes and turn lane and struck the patrol car driven by Destin Legieza head-on in front of the Brentwood Market. Legieza died from his injuries, police said.

A blood-alcohol test after the crash revealed she had a blood-alcohol level of .166, more than twice the legal limit.

Heather Legieza claimed in the lawsuit that the death was the direct result of Kroese’s alcohol consumption, including the alcohol at Kimbro’s. She claimed Kimbro violated state law by serving alcoholic beverages to a visibly intoxicated person.

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