A Knoxville police officer has now resigned from the police department amid a $3 million civil lawsuit filed against him and the City of Knoxville.

On August 13, 2021, Officer Cody Klingmann hit another car with his police cruiser at a high rate of speed while responding to a burglary call.  Mauricio Luna, age 27 was killed in the crash along with his dog. They were headed to Florida to visit Luna’s girlfriend when the crash happened.

Attorney T. Scott Jones is representing the Luna Family in a civil wrongful death lawsuit that was filed back in March. Jones says they lost their lives as a result of what we consider to be negligence and unwarranted speedy operation of the vehicle by the KPD Officer Klingmann. The lawsuit, filed by Jones on behalf of the Luna family, claims Klingmann was driving up to 90 miles an hour down Kingston Pike without using his emergency lights when he hit Luna’s car, which killed him. The lawsuit also claims that the City of Knoxville was negligent in entrusting the vehicle to Klingmann, saying both the former officer and the city are responsible for Luna’s death.

Attorney Jones stated on behalf of the Luna family, “they are not a family that is looking for malice or revenge, they are a family that is concerned that these officers need to be held accountable when they do such things that clearly endanger the public.”