The husband of a Salem cyclist who was killed in a 2023 collision with a U.S. DEA agent has filed a second lawsuit – this time against the Oregon State Police and state Department of Justice, alleging that lapses in training, supervision and policy resulted in her death. Mark Meleason filed the lawsuit on March 21 in Marion County Circuit Court over the death of his wife, Marganne Allen, 53, in March 2023. He is seeking $9.5 million in damages. The lawsuit comes seven weeks after Meleason sued the agent who caused the crash, Samuel Landis; the DEA and the city of Salem in federal court, seeking $2.5 million in economic damages and an amount of non-economic damages to be determined during a trial.  State police and the justice department were originally defendants in the federal lawsuit as well but sought to dismiss the claims against them on March 14, arguing that state agencies are protected from lawsuits in federal court. Attorney Brian Lathen, who is representing Meleason, moved to dismiss the federal claims against the state agencies in a court filing on March 26. A judge has yet to rule on that motion. The Salem Police Department and state police were working with the DEA on a drug task force at the time of the crash. The justice department defends the state in lawsuits. The recent lawsuit echoes the federal claims, alleging the state agencies failed to train Landis to drive safely while performing surveillance and created a faulty policy for when agents can break traffic laws. The lawsuit was first reported by the Statesman Journal. READ IT: State complaint A Marion County grand jury indicted Landis on a charge of criminally negligent homicide over five months after the crash. The agent’s attorneys successfully argued in December 2023 to have the case moved to federal court so he could argue he was immune from prosecution as a federal agent acting in an official capacity.  A federal judge in November dropped the charge against Landis, ending the criminal case against the agent.  At the time of the crash, Landis was part of a team surveilling a suspected drug trafficker and had been speeding through a central Salem neighborhood. He caused the crash by running a stop sign while he was trying to catch up with his team, according to the agent’s court testimony in November. The judge in the criminal case found that Landis was entitled to immunity from prosecution because he reasonably believed he needed to run the stop sign to perform his federal duties and believed that it was safe to do so.  The state justice department is appealing the dismissal at the request of the Marion County District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the criminal case. Cpt. Kyle Kennedy, state police spokesman, said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.  The justice department did not respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday afternoon. Allen, an executive with the state Department of Agriculture, was riding home from work on the afternoon of March 28, 2023. Landis at the time was part of a surveillance team with the drug task force gathering information about a suspected fentanyl trafficker. Several agents that day lost sight of the suspect, who suddenly cut across a traffic lane and made a turn. Traffic investigators pegged Landis’ speed down Leslie Street at 37 miles per hour in his Dodge Ram pickup truck.  In court testimony in November, Landis described slowing down as he approached the stop sign and ducking forward to get a clear picture of the intersection.  Court records showed he ran the stop sign at about 18 miles per hour into the path of Allen, who had the right of way as she cycled down a hill on Southeast High Street through the intersection. The recent lawsuit said state police and the justice department failed to properly plan surveillance on the day of the crash, according to the suit.  “They failed to form proper policy on how and when an agent such as Landis can/should disobey state traffic laws, when they knew, or should have known an improper policy could lead to injuries/death of civilians,” the suit alleges. Meleason is seeking around $2.5 million for economic damages including medical expenses, funeral costs and “future impairment of earning capacity,” according to the suit. He is also seeking $7 million in noneconomic damages for “mental and physical pain and suffering, mental anguish and emotional distress.” He said in the suit that the loss of Allen caused him “mental and physical pain and suffering, mental anguish and emotional distress,” and resulted in their family’s “loss of society, companionship and services.” RELATED COVERAGE: Husband of cyclist killed in crash sues DEA agent, Salem police “A tragic accident”: Judge dismisses charge against DEA agent in fatal cyclist collision “Russian Roulette”: Husband of cyclist killed in collision with DEA agent speaks out Judge signals he will drop charges against DEA agent in fatal Salem collision Federal judges clear way for DEA agent to claim immunity New records show drug cartel ties, DEA agent’s actions leading to fatal crash DEA agent faces state felony charge in death of Salem cyclist Video shows driver ran stop sign in fatal collision with Salem cyclist The post Husband of cyclist killed in DEA crash sues state police, justice department appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less