CHANDLER, Ariz. — A "promposal" at a Chandler high school ended with a student seriously injured in a crash on campus. Now, that student is preparing to file a lawsuit against the school district and city for not stopping it.
Last April at Arizona College Prep High School, senior William Vannasap was just leaving school for the day after classes. He was on his motorcycle going through a campus intersection when another student driving a Porsche purposely sped through a stop sign and crashed into Vannasap, which sent him into the air.
The crash was significant enough to deploy the car's airbags.
Vannasap suffered multiple injuries, some he will have for the rest of his life, according to attorney April Speelmon, who is now representing him.
Speelmon said this was no accident, it was all planned.
"It really was a dangerous plan," Speelmon said.
According to the notice of claim, the student driver of the Porsche planned to ask a girl to the upcoming prom. Both were in the car when the crash happened. The document claims the plan was for them to speed through the stop sign and get pulled over by the waiting school resource officer.
While making it look like the student was in trouble, he planned to pull out a poster to ask her to the dance, the claim said.
What wasn't taken into account in the plan was traffic having the right-of-way at the intersection. Speelmon said the student driver was going faster than 40 mph when the crash happened.
“[Vannasap] very easily could have died in this accident by just milliseconds difference in timing,” Speelmon said.
The claim also alleges that the SRO and school principal were aware of the plan and agreed to it. Security and body camera footage shows both sitting in the police cruiser nearby in the moments before the crash.
“Those adults at the school should have said 'no, we're not going to do this,'" Speelmon said.
However, the same court paperwork claims that the SRO said he did not know the student would speed through the stop sign. The officer claimed he thought it would be a "slow roll".
The school principal also said he was not aware of the plan. He claimed the reason why he was in the cruiser with the SRO was to discuss an unrelated matter, the documents said.
The teen driver disputes both the principal and SRO's accounts. Speelmon obtained the driver's statement to Chandler Police which showed he told investigators that he discussed the plan with the SRO and school administration ahead of time and that they agreed to it.
Speelmon is asking for a settlement of $1 million against Chandler Unified School District, the City of Chandler, the SRO and school principal.
“[Vannasap] sustained a traumatic brain injury," she said. "He's been emotionally very harmed by this incident.”
The potential lawsuit does not go after the teen driver. Speelmon said they are currently working on a separate claim against him.
The student was also not ticketed for the crash. A spokesperson for the Chandler Police Department said since the crash happened on private property and was an accident, state traffic laws are not enforceable.
They declined to comment on the Notice of Claim.
CUSD also declined to comment.