CHARLESTON – The estate of a man has filed a lawsuit against the City of South Charleston and a fire department employee following a fatal fire truck accident on U.S. 119.
Marie Crouch, as administratrix of the estate of Franklin Crouch, filed her complaint in Kanawha Circuit Court, against the city and firefighter Samuel Shreves, who lives in Parkersburg.
According to the complaint, Franklin Crouch was driving his vehicle, stopped at the intersection of Childress Road and U.S. 119 on September 21, 2023, when Shreves, operating the fire truck, ran a red light and struck Crouch's vehicle at a high rate of speed.
"Video surveillance shows the plaintiff was the second vehicle in a line of cars that were stopped on Childress Road at a red light," the complaint states. "When the light turned green, the car in front of the plaintiff proceeded through the intersection directly into path of travel of the fire truck at issue and turned left proceeding north on U.S. 119. The plaintiff followed that vehicle into the intersection. ...
"Shreves did not use due care when approaching the stop light, did not slow his vehicle at the intersection and ran the red light, which caused a violent collision with the plaintiff's vehicle."
Crouch was injured in the accident and died as a result of his injuries.
The complaint says no witnesses reported hearing the fire truck's siren. It also claims Shreves had a "significant amount of time" to slow the fire truck at the intersection and should have seen the vehicles proceeding through the intersection.
State code says an emergency vehicle can proceed past a stop signal only after slowing down, according to the complaint.
The estate cites the West Virginia Wrongful Death Statute and says it and its beneficiaries have suffered losses because of Crouch's death, and it says Crouch suffered injuries before his death.
It seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
The estate is being represented by William Tiano of Tiano O'Dell in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Stephanie Abraham.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 24-C-65