TMCnet News
Crash victim's father sues Pepsi, driver(The Daily Independent (Ashland, Ky.) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Mar. 16--PAINTSVILLE -- The father of one of three young men killed last month in a fiery collision with a Pepsi delivery truck in Johnson County has filed a wrongful-death suit against Pepsi and the truck driver. In the suit, filed in Johnson Circuit Court, Eddie Lee Patrick Sr. of Oil Springs seeks unspecified damages from the Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. and Rick Brown for the death of his son, William Anthony Patrick, 21. Anthony Patrick was one of two passengers who burned to death after the pickup truck they were riding in collided with a fully loaded Pepsi truck on U.S. 460 midway between Paintsville and Salyersville the morning of Feb. 27. Patrick and Daniel Pennington, 19, both were burned beyond recognition and had to be identified through dental records, authorities said. The driver of the pickup, Dustin Lee Rodriguez, 21, was ejected from the vehicle and was also killed. In the suit, filed on his behalf by the Kirk Law Firm, Eddie Patrick alleges Brown, 41, was operating the Pepsi truck in "a reckless and negligent fashion," which caused it to veer over the center line into the westbound lane of travel and collide with the pickup in which his son was riding. However, in statements to police, Brown, who was also seriously injured in the accident, said the pickup came over into his lane and he swerved to try to avoid it, causing the truck to slam into a hillside. Anthony Patrick was severely injured in the crash but likely would have survived had the pickup not caught fire, according to the lawsuit. The accident was "catastrophic" in large part because of the mass of the loaded Pepsi truck, the speed at which the vehicle was traveling and the vehicle being struck by the pickup so squarely, the suit states. Anthony Patrick and Pennington both likely "endured great and extreme suffering for a considerable time" prior to their deaths, according to the suit. Eddie Patrick's attorneys filed notice with the suit that they intend to take Brown's deposition on June 25. Claims made in civil lawsuits state only one side of an issue. Under Kentucky law, the defendants have 20 days from the date they are served to respond to the allegations. KENNETH HART can be reached at [email protected] or (606) 326-2654. To see more of The Daily Independent or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dailyindependent.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Daily Independent, Ashland, Ky. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |