Suit Filed In Fatal U.S. 30 Crash
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Nearly a year after an Etna Green woman was killed in an auto accident on U.S. 30, a lawsuit has been filed against the driver of the semi that struck her car and against his employer.
Jill L. Carpenter died March 29, 1999, after a Roadway Express Inc. semi tractor/trailer driven by Edwin L. Lynch struck Carpenter's car from behind as she waited for a red light at CR 150W. Carpenter, 33, was en route to her job as a senior financial analyst for DePuy.
An unspecified amount is being sought to compensate for losses, and punitive damages are being sought in an amount to punish the defendants and to deter them and others from like conduct. The attorney in this case is Andrew J. Detherage of Indianapolis.
At the time the accident occurred, two police cars investigating an unrelated accident at the intersection were parked with their emergency lights activated. One of the squad cars was facing east in the right turn lane of U.S. 30 next to Carpenter's eastbound car. One officer reportedly noticed Lynch approaching and motioned for him to slow down but, according to court documents, "Lynch completely disregarded the officer's instructions."
The lawsuit, filed March 16 in Kosciusko Circuit Court, cites negligence by Lynch, who reportedly was familiar with that stretch of highway and traveled through that intersection on previous occasions. Despite Lynch's alleged familiarity and despite multiple warnings - including two sets of signs prior to the intersection, four sets of rumble strips and multiple traffic lights with black borders, as well as the presence of police vehicles in the vicinity - the lawsuit claims that Lynch did not slow or stop his semi tractor/trailer as he approached the intersection.
At the time of the collision, Lynch was acting within the scope of his employment with Roadway.
Court documents state that the acts and omissions that led to the accident "were not the result of a mistake of fact or law, honest error or judgment, overzealousness, mere negligence, or other human failing; but, rather, they were willful and wanton, grossly negligent and in conscious disregard for probable injury to Mrs. Carpenter, plaintiffs and others."
The lawsuit claims that Carpenter's husband, Jack Carpenter, who filed the case both individually and as personal representative of his wife's estate, suffered "severe and catastrophic losses," including the loss of her earnings and other benefits, funeral and burial expenses, property damage, loss of consortium by Jack Carpenter and loss of their mother's care, parental training and guidance by the couple's sons, Quentyn and Griffyn Carpenter.
Kosciusko County Prosecutor Chuck Waggoner said this morning that in light of several facts brought up in this civil lawsuit, an ongoing investigation into the accident has prompted him to move forward in filing criminal charges against Lynch. A charge of reckless homicide is expected to be filed later today or sometime tomorrow, Waggoner said. [[In-content Ad]]
Nearly a year after an Etna Green woman was killed in an auto accident on U.S. 30, a lawsuit has been filed against the driver of the semi that struck her car and against his employer.
Jill L. Carpenter died March 29, 1999, after a Roadway Express Inc. semi tractor/trailer driven by Edwin L. Lynch struck Carpenter's car from behind as she waited for a red light at CR 150W. Carpenter, 33, was en route to her job as a senior financial analyst for DePuy.
An unspecified amount is being sought to compensate for losses, and punitive damages are being sought in an amount to punish the defendants and to deter them and others from like conduct. The attorney in this case is Andrew J. Detherage of Indianapolis.
At the time the accident occurred, two police cars investigating an unrelated accident at the intersection were parked with their emergency lights activated. One of the squad cars was facing east in the right turn lane of U.S. 30 next to Carpenter's eastbound car. One officer reportedly noticed Lynch approaching and motioned for him to slow down but, according to court documents, "Lynch completely disregarded the officer's instructions."
The lawsuit, filed March 16 in Kosciusko Circuit Court, cites negligence by Lynch, who reportedly was familiar with that stretch of highway and traveled through that intersection on previous occasions. Despite Lynch's alleged familiarity and despite multiple warnings - including two sets of signs prior to the intersection, four sets of rumble strips and multiple traffic lights with black borders, as well as the presence of police vehicles in the vicinity - the lawsuit claims that Lynch did not slow or stop his semi tractor/trailer as he approached the intersection.
At the time of the collision, Lynch was acting within the scope of his employment with Roadway.
Court documents state that the acts and omissions that led to the accident "were not the result of a mistake of fact or law, honest error or judgment, overzealousness, mere negligence, or other human failing; but, rather, they were willful and wanton, grossly negligent and in conscious disregard for probable injury to Mrs. Carpenter, plaintiffs and others."
The lawsuit claims that Carpenter's husband, Jack Carpenter, who filed the case both individually and as personal representative of his wife's estate, suffered "severe and catastrophic losses," including the loss of her earnings and other benefits, funeral and burial expenses, property damage, loss of consortium by Jack Carpenter and loss of their mother's care, parental training and guidance by the couple's sons, Quentyn and Griffyn Carpenter.
Kosciusko County Prosecutor Chuck Waggoner said this morning that in light of several facts brought up in this civil lawsuit, an ongoing investigation into the accident has prompted him to move forward in filing criminal charges against Lynch. A charge of reckless homicide is expected to be filed later today or sometime tomorrow, Waggoner said. [[In-content Ad]]