Nguyen

The pursuit of a stolen vehicle by police officers for defendant City of Westminster resulted in a crash seriously injuring Khuong Van Nguyen. He and his wife, plaintiff Hoa Nguyen, sued defendant for negligence, and when Nguyen died during the pendency of the action, his heirs filed an amended complaint adding a wrongful death cause of action. Defendant successfully moved for summary judgment, claiming Vehicle Code section 17004.7 (section 17004.7) immunized it from liability. Plaintiffs appeal. We reluctantly conclude the trial court properly found section 17004.7 applies in this case and affirm the judgment.

Facts

One afternoon, Westminster police officers spotted a stolen van and attempted to stop the vehicle. The van fled and the police pursued it. Officer Ingwerson took the lead in the pursuit.

The van entered a high school parking lot just as classes had ended, and Ingwerson followed it onto the school’s premises. Both vehicles traversed the parking lot and an adjacent athletic field. The van headed towards a gate leading to a second parking lot where several students had congregated. Ingwerson’s car twice rammed the van. The van continued toward the gate, hit a…