PARKERSBURG — A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit over a 2017 police chase that left a passenger in the suspect’s car severely injured.

The only portion of the settlement discussed in open court before Wood County Circuit Judge Robert Waters Thursday involved money to be paid into an educational trust fund for the son of Wood County resident Karlee Dent.

Dent’s then-boyfriend, Jole Seth Echard, was driving her Toyota Camry on Sept. 23, 2017, when a Parkersburg Police officer attempted to pull him over for not having his headlights on, according to court documents. Criminal complaints filed in Wood and Ritchie County Magistrate Courts said Echard fled and the ensuing pursuit reached speeds of more than 100 mph before the vehicle wrecked in Ritchie County.

Karlee Dent was partially ejected from the car and initially feared dead at the scene, the lawsuit said.

Her grandfather, Thomas A. Dent, filed the suit on the two-year anniversary of the crash, naming Echard and the Parkersburg Police Department as defendants, as well as the Wood County Commission and West Virginia State Police, because county sheriff’s deputies and state troopers also participated in the pursuit.

The suit claimed Parkersburg Police were negligent in initiating the chase since the only violation at the time was that Echard hadn’t engaged the headlights. The sheriff’s department and State Police were wrong to join in the pursuit as well, it said.

Karlee Dent’s lower extremities were almost completely paralyzed and she will never walk properly again without assistance, the suit said. The injuries caused her to lose her job and independence and left her with limited ability to care for her son, it said.

Dent’s medical expenses resulting from the crash had tallied more than $1 million when the suit was filed. It said she will continue to incur medical expenses related to the crash for the rest of her life and sought compensation for her past and future medical expenses, as well as pain, suffering and mental anguish.

The government entities named in the suit denied liability for Dent’s injuries.

Participating in Thursday’s hearing via the Microsoft Teams app, Thomas Dent said he agreed to the terms of the settlement on behalf of his great-grandson. The undisclosed amount of money will be placed in a trust to be used for the boy’s post-high school education.

Attorneys for the city, county and State Police, also participating virtually, voiced no objections to the agreement, nor did a guardian ad litem for Echard.

Waters approved the settlement as being “in the best interests of the child.” He indicated the settlement would resolve the case completely, although aspects not pertaining to the child were not discussed and approved in court.

David Sims, the attorney representing the Dents, could not be reached after Thursday’s hearing.

In the aftermath of the crash, Echard was charged with two counts of fleeing with reckless indifference in Wood County and one count of fleeing in a vehicle causing injury in Ritchie County. In 2019, he was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to the fleeing with injury charge, according to the Ritchie County Prosecutor’s Office. He also pleaded guilty to one Wood County charge and was sentenced to five years probation.

Parkersburg Police Chief Joe Martin said in a 2017 interview that it was not clear why Echard fled as he was not wanted for a crime at that point.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.