Nearly a year after a devastating crash in downtown Napa, the two women who were mowed down in a crosswalk by a Rolls-Royce are suing the elderly driver deemed responsible.
In a complaint filed Tuesday in Napa County Superior Court, the women accuse the driver, Robert Knox Thomas, of negligence at a minimum while contending that elements of road rage were at play in the Thanksgiving week crash that left them with grave physical injuries and emotional trauma.
“Defendant’s conduct was not the result of inattention, distraction, or mistake,” the complaint alleges. “It was the culmination of rage, aggression, and a deliberate disregard for human life. Witnesses described him as angry and aggressive, driving his Rolls-Royce as though it were an instrument of intimidation and power.”
Annamarie Thammala and Veronnica Pansanouck were crossing First Street in Napa on Nov. 25, 2024, and were about to step onto the far sidewalk when Thomas ran them over at a high rate of speed in his 2023 Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV, according to authorities.
Thomas, then 78, was making a right turn from a stop sign at School Street, and according to an investigative report prepared by the Napa Police Department, mistakenly hit the gas instead of the brake. A video captured by the security camera of a First Street business shows the Rolls-Royce accelerate through the pedestrians before crashing into Tarla Mediterranean Bar & Grill, damaging the restaurant’s exterior.
Thammala, 29, was thrown into the air and crushed beneath a tree that had been severed by the vehicle, according to the plaintiffs. She suffered multiple fractures, including spinal injuries that have left her paralyzed from the waist down. Pansanouck, 31, wound up pinned underneath the vehicle; she sustained multiple spinal fractures in her back and legs, requiring several surgeries.
Both women continue to receive treatment for their injuries and will require “lifelong medical care,” according to a press release distributed by Habbas & Associates, the law firm representing them. They are seeking unspecified monetary damages.
Pansanouck’s sisters, Erica Kalah and Colicia Pansanouk, – Veronnica and Colicia spell their last names differently – were crossing the street at the same time. They also are plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Thomas, alleging they suffered severe emotional trauma when they witnessed the incident.
Napa police on June 24 cited Thomas for exceeding the speed limit, failing to stop at a stop sign and causing a collision with great bodily injury. But the violations were processed as infractions, lesser offenses that are not considered crimes and carry no chance of jail time. The case was not forwarded to the Napa County District Attorney’s Office.
Police investigators ruled out drugs, alcohol, medical conditions or vehicle malfunction as factors in the crash.
Knox pleaded not guilty to the infractions. His traffic trial is scheduled for December 15.
Thomas’ attorney in the traffic case, Amanda Bevins, said she does not represent him in the civil matter. It’s unclear who does. Attempts to reach Thomas for this story were unsuccessful.
In late March, four months after Thomas ran over Pansanouck and Thammala, his Mercedes was pulled over after the driver made a right turn at a stoplight without coming to a stop, at the busy intersection of Soscol and Lincoln avenues in Napa, court records show. Thomas pleaded not guilty in that case.
Bevins said it was Thomas’ dog sitter who was operating the vehicle at the time, and was captured on red-light camera digital images. A superior court judge dismissed the charge in July. The next day, Knox was cited again for an illegal turn on a red light in Napa. He pleaded guilty to that infraction.
The lawsuit filed by the four women seeks punitive damages, based on eyewitness accounts that suggest elements of road rage.
Knox maintained a mailbox at the UPS store on School Street and visited the shop “on a regular basis,” as he noted to law enforcement. On the day of the incident, according to the complaint, he was driving to UPS to pick up packages for his wife, and became frustrated when he couldn’t find a nearby parking space.
Citing eyewitness accounts provided to law enforcement and investigators, the lawsuit describes the events preceding the accident in detail: Knox circled the block several times. Near the southeast corner of Second Street and School Street, he was observed revving his engine repeatedly and moving the Rolls-Royce back and forth at least four times “for no apparent reason.” Knox then screeched his tires and accelerated north on School Street, according to the complaint.
“Witnesses described Defendant as looking ‘angry’ and pointing at a pedestrian in a threatening manner, with his index finger extended and his thumb raised like a gun, while mouthing something unintelligible before ‘flooring’ the Rolls-Royce,” the complaint alleges.
Another witness reported that Knox stopped abruptly at the corner of School and Second streets, then “burned rubber” as he accelerated rapidly north on School. “Defendant was seen driving in the wrong lane on School Street before swerving back, still accelerating,” the court document notes.
Witnesses described the speed of the Rolls-Royce as ‘pedal to the metal,’ the complaint says, moving faster as it neared the intersection and then veering toward pedestrians in the crosswalk without so much as slowing at the stop sign there. One motorist who was driving on First Street, fearing she would crash into the Rolls-Royce, laid on her horn “in a desperate attempt to get Defendant’s attention and to warn the pedestrians.” But Knox didn’t slow down.
The victims contend that Knox should have understood the conditions in that part of Napa during Thanksgiving week.
“He knew the precise location of the stop sign and crosswalk, and he knew this part of downtown Napa was routinely busy with pedestrians and restaurant patrons,” they allege in the lawsuit. “Despite this knowledge, Defendant chose to weaponize his 6,000-pound SUV, aggressively slamming his accelerator and driving directly toward a congested pedestrian area.”
The suit also contends that Knox was aware he suffered from macular degeneration, a vision impairment, and should have factored that into his driving.
You can reach Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @Skinny_Post.
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