# Dickens v. Horner

> Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · June 17, 1992 · 531 Pa. 127

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9756883

## Case

- **Full name:** Denise Marie DICKENS, Appellee, v. John Scott HORNER, Upper Chichester Township, and Officer Thomas Bush. Appeal of UPPER CHICHESTER TOWNSHIP and Officer Thomas Bush
- **Court:** Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
- **Decided:** June 17, 1992
- **Citations:** 531 Pa. 127; 611 A.2d 693; 1992 Pa. LEXIS 387
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Cappy
- **Judges:** Nix, Larsen, Flaherty, McDermott, Zappala, Papadakos, Cappy
- **Cited by:** 35 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- **Red flag:** Overruled by Jones v. Chieffo, 549 Pa. 46 (1997).
- Negative treatments: 1
- Distinguished by: 1
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9756883

## Opinion text

CAPPY, Justice,
concurring.
I join in the opinion of the majority insofar as it establishes that a municipality and its agents cannot be held liable for the superseding criminal or negligent acts of a third party. I endorse the position that the decision of a police officer, acting within the scope of his duties, to initiate vehicular pursuit of a person suspected of committing a crime, cannot constitute negligence.
However, I write separately to emphasize that, in my view, the decision of the majority does not eliminate liability claims against a municipality or its agents in instances where its own actions, as opposed to those of a third party, are the proximate cause of the injury.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9756883. Public record. Not legal advice.