“Paranoid” trucker causing trouble in jail after running over police officer now center of wrongful death lawsuit

A wrongful death lawsuit has been brought against a truck driver who ran over an officer during a “paranoid” episode and has been causing issues in jail ever since. 

The family of Sgt. Bill Hooser filed the wrongful death lawsuit on November 26th for the May 2024 incident near Santaquin, Utah. 

According to KSLTV, truck driver Michael Jayne was reportedly experiencing a paranoid episode when police were called to the scene. Throughout the incident, Jayne held his girlfriend against her will, ran over Hooser, fled the scene on foot, and even called police on himself. He is charged with capital  murder for the death of Hooser. 

Jayne is also facing charges for assaulting officers in an interrogation room, and spraying a deputy with an unknown liquid while in jail. Police say that “Jayne has an extensive criminal history with violent offenses over the last 20 plus years.”

The lawsuit filed by the family of Hooser names Jayne, Sierra Nevada Trucking owned and operated by Jayne, Valley Fine Foods, and five other people. 

“Billy was fatally injured because of Jayne’s operation of the truck,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit argues that Valley Fine Foods had a responsibility to ensure its drivers were competent and safe, which it did not do when hiring Jayne, a man with a known violent history. 

“Valley breached this duty by hiring Jayne, as owner and operator of Sierra, despite his extremely long and violent and unsafe criminal history — which includes several violent crimes and even attempted murder. The lawsuit continues that the company “knew or should have known of Jayne’s unsafe history, and the great risk he presented to other persons on the road.”

The lawsuit continues that  “breached their duty by not vetting or investigating Jayne’s history, to verify whether he was a competent, unsafe, or violent person.”

“Billy’s death caused an immediate and profound loss to Kinda [Hooser’s wife], depriving her of the love, society, companionship, comfort, protection, affection, moral support, and consortium previously provided by her husband.”

The suit is seeking more than $300,000 in damages and a jury trial.