City of Belmont pays $2.7M after officer's pet project causes fatal crash.

Byline: Bill Cresenzo

The widow of a man who was killed after he was hit by a city of Belmont employee who was hauling utility poles has settled a lawsuit against the city for $2.7 million, her attorneys report.

Ben Chesson, David Allen, Tracy Tomlin, and Anna Majestro of Nelson Mullins in Charlotte report that the victim, Eddie Pullen, was driving his truck in Belmont in October 2015. The city employee, Jacob Kanburoblu, was hauling the large wooden poles in a city-owned truck when he took a right turn.

The poles were hanging almost 20 feet off of the truck's bed and swung into Pullen's lane of traffic. They went through Pullen's truck and into his chest, neck, head, and face. His truck then rolled uncontrolled down the road, crossing through oncoming traffic, jumping the curb and crashing into a tree. Pullen died at the scene.

Pullen's death subsequently unveiled what Chesson called a "really weird" situation. The poles were destined for a bike lane that was under construction, but it turned out that construction of bike trail hadn't been approved by the city. Instead, Doug Huffstetler, a Belmont police officer who'd been taken off patrol duty and placed on community outreach, had started building the bike trail on city property and on city time.

"While this did not serve any legitimate police function, it did serve Huffstetler's own interest as 'an avid mountain biker,'" Chesson said.

At first, the police department had given Huffstetler permission to work on the trail, but in 2014 his superiors ordered him to stop work on the project.

"They took away his Belmont truck," Chesson said. "They took away his keys to the Belmont maintenance shed. They instructed him to return all of his tools. Huffstetler's bike path switched from a Belmont Police community project to a personal pet project for Huffstetler. From that moment forward, Belmont had absolutely no role in designing or constructing Huffstetler's bike path. There is not a shred of evidence that Huffstetler had authority from anyone at Belmont to work on the bike trail from 2014 through the wreck."

Despite the orders, Huffstetler continued to use city resources to build the trail, Chesson said, including the truck involved in the wreck and its...