A San Francisco firefighter is suing the department claiming they falsely told the public she was driving the rig that ran over the teen after the airliner crash.
A 25-year department veteran, alleges that her supervisor made the accusations to protect the firefighter who was actually responsible for running over the teen, the SFGate reported.
Recent videos show the driver of the first fire truck was told of the girl lying in the grass near the plane. Moments later, she was run over. . A coroner's autopsy found that she was alive when she was hit.
Footage from another rig's dashboard camera and a battalion chief's helmet camera showed that Elyse Duckett's rig was the second one to roll over Ye, and that by the time it hit her, she was obscured by flame-retardant foam.
The attorney said his client told her bosses that "there was a video showing that Rescue 10 was the vehicle that had hit and killed" the girl.
"Notwithstanding, they continued to insist that Elyse Duckett was responsible for her death," he alleges in the suit.
Duckett's claim says Ye may have been killed by the first rig, known as Rescue 10 and driven by another firefighter, Jimmy Yee. But when Duckett showed up for a meeting with Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White and other brass on July 22, the claim says, she was told "that she needed to admit to the incident and take responsibility" for the girl's death," the paper reported.
Duckett told her bosses that "there was a video showing that Rescue 10 was the vehicle that had hit and killed" the girl. "Notwithstanding, they continued to insist that Elyse Duckett was responsible for her death."
Later that day, Duckett received repeated phone calls from KGO TV reporter wanting to talk to her about the crash.
Roy said Duckett "believes that her identity, contact information and involvement were disclosed by one or more individuals" in the fire department.
Three days later, the station ran a story "falsely identifying" Duckett as the driver responsible for killing Ye, according to the claim. Her name promptly was picked up by other media around the world.
