photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center is pictured on Nov. 27, 2023.

A former Lawrence tow truck driver told a jury on Monday that a woman who was killed during a towing incident wasn’t in the “kill zone” because the tow job hadn’t started yet.

Killed in the incident categorized by police as an accident was 29-year-old Lindsay Raine on Nov. 9, 2020, around 11:20 a.m. in the 3400 block of Augusta Drive. Raine, who was a mother of two, is at the center of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by her mother, Laticia Raine, in 2021, against Lawrence towing service Hillcrest Wrecker and the driver, Erin VanNatta, citing negligence in hiring and training practices.

VanNatta testified at trial on Monday that she arrived at Raine’s residence and met with Raine at the top of Raine’s steep driveway where Raine’s vehicle was parked. She said the vehicle was disabled and on wooden blocks. VanNatta said she told Raine that her plan was to roll the car backward down the driveway into the street so she could then load the vehicle onto the tow truck from a flat surface instead of the steep driveway.

She said Raine offered to help but VanNatta told Raine that she could handle the job alone. As VanNatta was walking back to the tow truck to get it into position, VanNatta said Raine asked if Raine would be able to get the car off of the wooden blocks herself, to which VanNatta told Raine “Probably not.”

As VanNatta was pulling the truck into position, she said Raine then started rocking the vehicle off the blocks. VanNatta at that point was in the street looking up the driveway with a clear view of the driver’s side of Raine’s vehicle. She said she yelled at Raine to stop but the car then rolled off the blocks and Raine started trying to jump into the vehicle.

She recalled seeing Raine disappear from her sight as the vehicle continued down the driveway and into the street. VanNatta then got out of the tow truck to see VanNatta’s feet sticking out from under the front of the car with a trail of blood. She then called 911.

VanNatta had been hired by Hillcrest in April of 2019. She said she had had about two weeks of training, including a few videos about safety and ride-alongs with another driver. Her attorney, James Godfrey, said that VanNatta’s training was sufficient to ensure 1,539 successful tows prior to the incident.

VanNatta said during that training she learned about the “kill zone” that exists during a tow job. She said that the area in front of, behind, and all around the car is considered the “kill zone”.

Raine’s attorney, Heather Hatley, asked VanNatta what type of training VanNatta received in regards to removing customers or any other persons from the “kill zone” to which VanNatta said that she had been instructed to make sure everyone was out of the way.

VanNatta said that one of the videos she watched in her first few days on the job said to get people out of the “kill zone” but that the area that Raine was in wouldn’t be described as a “kill zone” because VanNatta hadn’t actually started the tow job.

She said that the “kill zone” only applied when the vehicle was in motion and that when she had left Raine, the car was still on blocks.

Hatley asked whether VanNatta was trained to secure a vehicle upon arrival at the scene of a tow, to which VanNatta said “Yes.” Hatley then asked if that meant taking the keys from the customer.

VanNatta said that was usually the case but that she didn’t collect the keys from Raine because Raine was in the car trying to get it started while she was talking to her. VanNatta said she had no indication that Raine would try to move the car while VanNatta was moving her tow truck despite Raine having asked if she would be able to get the car off the blocks by herself.

In opening arguments, Raine’s other attorney, Nick Hinrichs, said that Hillcrest had failed to adequately train VanNatta and that led to Raine’s death. He said Hillcrest failed to follow industry standards for training and certification and didn’t even require VanNatta to have a Kansas driver’s license before putting VanNatta behind the wheel.

Godfrey said in opening arguments that police saw the incident as an accident and that VanNatta was never charged with a crime. He said that VanNatta’s training was good enough to complete countless tows before the incident including one in which she towed the exact same car just three weeks prior, though Raine wasn’t involved.

Godfrey said that VanNatta had no way of knowing that Raine would try to involve herself in the tow, and the whole ordeal was a tragic accident.

The trial is scheduled to last until Friday and is being presided over by Judge Mark Simpson.