The family of 30-year-old Corey Tinnes has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, accusing the City of Columbus and Officer Kaitlin Robinson of turning a late-night emergency response into a fatal crash. The complaint, filed March 9, claims Robinson hit Tinnes' pickup truck as he turned left at an intersection on Dec. 7, 2025, and argues the collision was the result of negligence and a conscious disregard for public safety.
According to The Columbus Dispatch, the suit seeks monetary damages for negligence and wrongful death and names both Robinson and the city as defendants. The filing says Robinson was responding with lights and siren to a reported burglary on the 100 block of Dana Avenue when her cruiser hit the driver's side of Tinnes' truck.
What the dashcam shows
Dashcam and body-worn camera video released after the crash shows Robinson traveling east on West Broad Street with lights and siren activated, moving through several intersections before impact. The suit alleges the footage shows the cruiser entering the intersection on a red light and does not show any clear effort to slow or pause before driving through, as reported by The Columbus Dispatch. The complaint also notes Robinson had been on the Columbus police force only since July 2025.
Crash scene and investigation
The collision occurred around 2:48 a.m. on Dec. 7 at West Broad Street and North Central Avenue. Tinnes was ejected from his truck and later pronounced dead at a local hospital, while Robinson was treated and released. The Ohio State Highway Patrol is conducting an independent investigation into the crash, which followed a 911 call alleging a possible burglary, according to an independent investigation into the crash.
Legal stakes and next steps
Ohio law generally gives political subdivisions broad immunity when officers are responding to emergency calls, but that protection can fall apart if an employee's conduct is proven to be malicious, in bad faith, wanton or reckless. That framework, laid out in R.C. Chapter 2744 and interpreted in a series of appellate decisions, means the Tinnes family will have to convince a judge that Robinson's driving went beyond mere negligence to pierce the city's immunity defenses, according to Casemine. The case will now move forward in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, where the Ohio State Highway Patrol's findings and the court's reading of the recklessness standard could determine whether it ever reaches a jury.
