A bulldozer being illegally transported on W.Va. 7 west of Morgantown contributed to the death of a woman in a multi-vehicle collision last September, according to a lawsuit filed this week.
Damone Eddy, husband of the late Stephanie Eddy, and Allison Lippert, who was injured in the crash, filed the lawsuit in Monongalia County Circuit Court.
Despite what the suit calls a valiant effort by first responders, Eddy died from her injuries 30-40 minutes after the collision.
The suit names as defendants several drivers who were involved in the wreck and the companies that employed them at the time of the Sept. 5, 2019, crash. They are: Strike LLC, Capstone Energy Services LLC, Anderson Excavating LLC, Micah McClain, Addey Bennett, Ken Beck and Nicholas Ali.
A representative for Anderson said the company did not want to comment on the suit. The other two companies did not respond to calls seeking a comment and the individuals could not be reached by The Dominion Post.
The suit alleges Strike/Capstone was illegally hauling a dozer, which struck a dump truck, causing the truck to overturn and land on Eddy’s vehicle, spilling hot asphalt on and into her vehicle, which led to her death. It also alleges neither Strike/Capstone employee involved in the crash stopped nor called 911.
A criminal investigation into the crash is ongoing, according to the suit.
“Had this out-of-state company followed the law and not placed its business interest over the safety of the innocent public, the horrific crash … which took the life of a 30-year-old wife and mother, and injured a 21-year-old college student who was returning from student teaching at Mason-Dixon Elementary School, would not have occurred,” the suit states.
Damages sought for Eddy include funeral and medical expenses, the pain and suffering Eddy experienced after the crash but before her death and punitive damages. Lippert seeks medical expenses, compensation for her injuries and punitive damages.
According to the suit:
A D6 Caterpillar Dozer weighing about 50,000 pounds was being transported on a “lowboy” flatbed trailer east on W.Va. 7, at the behest of Strike, headquartered in Texas, and Capstone, a Strike company engaged in a joint venture. McClain was the driver of the truck hauling the flatbed trailer and dozer. Bennett was operating a Ford F250 in front of McClain as an escort. Beck is their boss.
Lippert was headed east towards Morgantown from Mason-Dixon. Eddy was driving behind Lippert. Eddy had dropped her two children — ages 2 and 3 — at her mother-in-law’s home and was headed to a nail salon to prepare for a family vacation to North Carolina planned for the next day.
On a left curve, the D6’s dozer blade crossed over into the westbound lane and struck an Anderson dump truck, driven by Ali, carrying about 47,000 pounds of roughly 300 degree Fahrenheit asphalt. The dump truck collided with the driver’s side of Lippert’s Hyundai Santa Fe, then flipped on top of Eddy’s GMC Acadia.
Eddy was trapped in her vehicle, crushed and burned by the smoldering asphalt. Eddy died from those injuries and could not be removed from her vehicle.
The blade of the dozer that struck the dump truck is 160 inches long and Capstone/Strike were required to get an oversized load permit, which it did not.
Additionally, the blade was angled towards oncoming traffic, rather than away from traffic.
McClain did not stop after the dozer he was carrying struck the dump truck but continued to a location near Pedlar Run Road and reported “someone just clipped me and wrecked,” over his CB radio. Bennett also continued driving to that location.
Neither of the Strike/Capstone employees called 911. About an hour later, when Bennett and McClain returned to the scene of the crash, Eddy was dead.
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