Boro Of Highlands Settles For $1.4 Million After Firefighter Hits Man

HIGHLANDS, NJ — The town of Highlands has agreed to pay a $1.4 million settlement to a local man who was hit by a volunteer firefighter in town, who hit him with his car while he was speeding to get a 911 fire call.

This is according to a civil settlement agreement publicly available on the New Jersey court system website.

The man who was hit is Jared Donnelly, 31, who lives in Bayside Drive in Highlands. The volunteer firefighter who hit him is John McKay.

On July 26, 2018 Donnelly, then in his mid-20s, said he was lawfully walking in the designated crosswalk at the intersection of Bay Avenue and Miller Street in Highlands. McKay, a volunteer firefighter and driving his personal vehicle, was responding to what turned out to be a false fire call, with his blue lights activated.

McKay "negligently and recklessly made a left turn onto Miller Street en route to the firehouse," when he struck Donnelly and knocked him down, according to a lawsuit Donnelly filed against the town in 2019. He cut the corner onto Miller Street, said Donnelly's lawyers.

McKay was speeding, going 44 in a 25-mph zone, the Monmouth County Prosecutor said at the time.

Lawyers on behalf of the town of Highlands admitted McKay was in the car accident on July 26, and that he hit Donnelly, but they deny he was driving recklessly. They said circumstances out of his control caused him to hit Donnelly.

"Just having a blue light on your car is not a license to cut the corner," said one of the lawyers who represented Donnelly. "A blue light makes you even more responsible. How regularly are public employees and volunteers getting safety training? If we're going to give a blue light to a volunteer, supervisors need to train them."

"I am happy for Jared Donnelly that he was able to recover," the lawyer continued. "Hopefully there's some lesson here for first responders in New Jersey. "

Donnelly suffered a traumatic brain injury from the accident, according to court filings. Even though he was hit six years ago, it left him permanently disabled and he still suffers medical issues to this day. He had to re-learn how to read, he suffers migraines and short-term memory loss and he will never be able to get his driver's license, according to the Asbury Park Press, which was the first to report the settlement.

The town of Highlands first offered to settle with Donnelly for $100,000. But he did not accept their first settlement offer. They then returned with a settlement offer of $1.8 million, which was later reduced to $1.4 million, which Donnelly accepted.

The $1.4 million settlement will ultimately be paid by Highlands taxpayers, who pay into the town's Joint Insurance Fund.

Donelly's lawsuit has been winding through the NJ court system for the past six years.

His father Robert King said the money will go to ongoing medical costs for Donnelly's health problems. King has been very public about sharing his son's injuries on Facebook, showing pictures of his son unconscious in the hospital.

“If you ask me, it’s not enough,” King told the Asbury Park Press this week. “But they know who was at fault. There’s no way around it. There was so much evidence.”