Opinion
September 14, 1998
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Polizzi, J.).
Ordered that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with costs.
The Supreme Court properly granted that branch of the motion of the defendant City of New York which was for summary judgment dismissing the cause of action predicated on General Municipal Law § 205-e ( see, Saarinen v. Kerr, 84 N.Y.2d 494; DeLeonardis v. Port Washington Police Dist., 237 A.D.2d 322; Young v. Village of Lynbrook, 234 A.D.2d 455). A police officer's conduct in pursuing a suspected lawbreaker may not form the basis of civil liability to an injured third party unless the officer acted in reckless disregard for the safety of others ( see, Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1104 Veh. Traf. [b], [e]; Saarinen v. Kerr, supra, at 501; Williams v. City of New York, 240 A.D.2d 734; Powell v. City of Mount Vernon, 228 A.D.2d 572. This "reckless disregard" standard requires "evidence that `the actor has intentionally done an act of an unreasonable character in disregard of a known or obvious risk that was so great as to make it highly probable that harm would follow'" ( Saarinen v. Kerr, supra, at 501, quoting Prosser and Keeton, Torts § 34, at 213 [5th ed]). On this record, the plaintiff has identified no conduct on the part of the pursuing officers warranting the imposition of liability.
Bracken, J. P., Ritter, Thompson and Krausman, JJ., concur.