City, board sued over crash

YOUNGSTOWN — Two North Side residents have sued the city, the city school board and a school bus driver, saying that they were injured in a collision with a school bus and that a malfunctioning city traffic light contributed to the crash.

In a lawsuit filed Friday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, Otha Page and Latisha Crum, both of Outlook Avenue, allege the city, the school board and the bus driver were negligent in the crash, which occurred at 8:46 a.m. Jan. 12, 2006.

Page, 38, was driving a car northbound on Elm Street with Crum as his passenger, when the car was hit by the bus driven by Gladys Townsend, 68, of Girard, which was westbound on Benita Avenue. The bus carried five Harding Elementary preschool children. There were no reports of injuries to bus occupants.

Police said in their accident report that the traffic light was malfunctioning. The suit said city officials received a complaint about the malfunctioning traffic light before the day of the crash. The suit, which seeks damages in excess of $25,000, demands a jury trial.

Anthony DeNiro, assistant superintendent for school business affairs, said the matter would be turned over to the board’s insurance company. City officials did not respond to a request for comment.