By Patrick Cooley
TRUMBULL COUNTY — The widow of a truck driver who was killed in 2007 after the garbage truck he was driving got hung up on a highway overpass in Trumbull County and flipped over is suing his former employer.
In the lawsuit, Angela C. Cross of Mercer, alleges Tri-County Industries either removed or failed to maintain equipment that would have let her husband, Raymond F. Cross, know the hydraulic hoist that smashed into the overpass was still up.
Mrs. Cross’ lawsuit was filed this week in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court against Tri-County Industries Inc., Vogel Disposal Service Inc., Vogel Holding Inc., and an unknown corporation associated with those companies.
The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Cross’ “untimely death was a direct and proximate result of the intentional and tortuous conduct of Tri-County Industries, who maintained the truck in a hazardous condition, and under hazardous circumstances.”
A representative of Tri-County Industries did not return calls seeking comment.
The complaint states the company either removed, or failed to maintain a system which would have warned the driver when the hydraulic hoist was not fully down, they knew the driver was operating the vehicle under dangerous conditions, and that if the trucks were maintained in their present condition, they knew there was the strong possibility of a driver being injured or killed.
Mr. Cross, who was 45, was killed after the hydraulic hoist of the truck he was driving struck the Niles-Vienna Road overpass over Route 11 in Vienna Township, and flipped the vehicle upside down.
Surveillance video from a security camera near the Eastwood Mall in Niles showed the Mack truck Mr. Cross was driving had the hydraulic hoist in an upright position at 4:20 a.m. on Dec. 18, 2007. According to police, the accident took place at 5:30 a.m., and happened just five miles from the Eastwood Mall complex.
The bridge was heavily damaged as a result of the crash, and Route 11 had to be closed for five days while the Niles Vienna Road overpass was demolished by the Ohio Department of Transportation. The bridge remained closed until the spring of 2008.
The accident involved three other vehicles, but there were no other life-threatening injuries.
Mrs. Cross has requested a trial by jury, and is seeking $25,000 worth of damages to cover the costs of the funeral services, the loss of expected income from her husband, and for the suffering of mental anguish after the accident.
