Police chase severely injures innocent passenger who lost her arm, GA suit says
A Georgia woman suing police for $15 million accuses officers of an illegal and reckless high-speed chase that resulted in a rollover crash, leaving her with multiple broken bones and the loss of her right arm.
Terri Ball was an innocent passenger inside the car when Cobb County police officers initiated the pursuit on Feb. 18, according to a lawsuit she filed in Cobb County Superior Court on Oct. 14.
That morning, Ball was getting a ride to a local store by a man whom she did not know was wanted for suspected shoplifting weeks before, a complaint says.
A Cobb County officer spotted his car outside a dollar store and began to follow him, according to the complaint. With Ball in the passenger seat, the man fled, leading to more officers joining in the pursuit.
While on Veterans Memorial Parkway, the complaint says Ball asked the man to pull over to let her out and unbuckled her seat belt.
At that moment, the officer who initiated the chase “performed a negligent, reckless, unlawful, improper, and unauthorized PIT maneuver,” according to the filing, hitting the bumper of the car with his patrol car.
The collision sent the car into the air, causing it to repeatedly roll over, the complaint says. Ball was ejected from the car and suffered “catastrophic injuries.”
While Ball was on the ground, “screaming and writhing in pain,” another officer approached and tased her, according to the complaint.
Ball’s back, femur, pelvis and ribs, as well as bones in her face, were broken as she was tased, the complaint says, Her arm amputated as a result of the crash.
She told WXIA-TV that she nearly died that day.
The officer is accused of illegally and negligently deploying his taser before realizing she was injured, according to the complaint. Then police called emergency medical services.
The Cobb County Police Department did not return McClatchy News’ request for comment Oct. 16. Defendants named in the lawsuit include the county, Interim Police Chief James Ferrell, the officer accused of performing the illegal PIT maneuver and the officer accused of tasing her.
“She is going to need medical care from now on, and she’s permanently disabled,” Henry Ball, Terri Ball’s brother, told Atlanta News First.
Attorneys representing Terri Ball argue in the lawsuit that the officers involved in the chase violated police department policies on vehicle pursuits and use of force.
The alleged violations include using a PIT maneuver to stop a person suspected of a misdemeanor or non-violent felony, and using a taser on Terri Ball, who was not a threat.
Terri Ball was “rather pleading for help while likely in a state of extreme distress, shock and trauma,” when she was tased, the complaint says.
Henry Ball does not understand why a taser was used, Atlanta News First reported.
“She was begging for help as she lay there dying, and they felt the need to tase her — which is, to me, just unforgivable.”
The next day, on Feb. 19, Cobb County issued a news release about a life-saving blood transfusion provided to Ball, who was not mentioned by name, in connection with a Feb. 18 car crash.
Officials did not specify how the crash occurred. The release said “one passenger had been ejected from the car” and that officers “applied a tourniquet to a nearly amputated limb, taking the first step in controlling severe bleeding.”
Then, officials said paramedics “administered life-saving blood products” while taking Ball to the hospital.
Ball’s past, present and future medical expenses will likely exceed more than $772,000, the lawsuit estimates.
With her lawsuit, Ball is seeking damages for her injuries, pain and suffering, lost earnings, disfigurement, mental anguish and more, the complaint shows.
She demands a jury trial.
Henry Ball told Atlanta News First that “it’s a miracle that she’s alive.”
This story was originally published October 20, 2025 at 5:33 AM with the headline "Police chase severely injures innocent passenger who lost her arm, GA suit says."
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