Three lawsuits were filed Tuesday against the tour bus company involved in last month’s deadly Arkansas crash that killed half the passengers on their way from Chicago to a Mississippi casino.
One lawsuit, filed on behalf of injured passenger Tiny Jackson and the family of Herbert Redmond Sr., who died two weeks ago in a Memphis hospital, says Walters Bus Service was negligent. The three lawsuits each seek in excess of $50,000.
Jackson, 72, of Chicago spent more than 19 days in the hospital with broken vertebrae, head trauma and a broken ankle, said attorney Shawn Kasserman. Redmond, a retired Chicago Police Department sergeant, suffered a fractured back and deep neck gash when he was ejected.
At least eight lawsuits stemming from the crash have been filed in Cook County, and one was filed last week in Crittenden County, where the accident occurred.
Patrick Dowd, an attorney for Walters Bus Service, said the company has a $5 million insurance policy and virtually no other assets. He expects family members of every deceased passenger to file lawsuits, and he plans to ask a judge to consolidate the suits into one case to investigate the families’ claims.
“I will be attempting to get full compensation for all my clients,” Kasserman said. “If all that is available is the $5 million policy, that would have to be equitably split up among all the victims.”
In two other lawsuits filed Tuesday, injured passenger Myrtle Bailey, 58, and the family of deceased passenger Cornelia Roseborough, 76, filed claims against the bus company and Wentworth Tire Service, the Far South Side company that gave the bus a satisfactory inspection two months before it crashed. Federal investigators have said that the bus’ rear frame, which held the motor in place, had pre-existing cracks.