Houston police shot a bystander's car dozens of times. The city says it owes her nothing – Houston Chronicle

Houston police shot a bystander’s car dozens of times. The city says it owes her nothing  Houston Chronicle

Abigail Trujillo was in the middle of a shift at her job in Highland Village when Houston police officers shot her car dozens of times. Neither Trujillo nor her Nissan sedan had anything to do with the case. But weeks after the July 6 shootout at the ritzy Houston shopping district, attorneys for the city told Trujillo they weren’t liable for totaling her car and wouldn’t help her replace it. “I feel stuck in the middle here,” said Trujillo, a 20-year-old University of Houston student who was working a retail job to help pay for college. “This is a huge financial burden. And I wasn’t done paying off that car, so I still have to make those payments while finding a new one.” READ MORE: Houston police crash lawsuits are surging.

Critics say the city is delaying justice by stalling cases In rejecting Trujillo’s request, city attorneys wrote that Texas law makes the city immune from liability in her case. “Where the city has no liability, the Texas Constitution prohibits the city from paying public monies on your claim,” according to the Aug. 28 letter. “We regret your inconvenience in this matter.” A spokesman for Mayor John Whitmire provided a one-sentence statement echoing that language Tuesday. Several legal experts, however, said Trujillo may be entitled to damages. The city is