Lawsuit filed over school bus accident
YOUNGSTOWN
The mother of a 15-year-old boy has sued the city schools, a school bus driver and another motorist over an accident she said injured her son nearly two years ago.
Angel Revis, of Johnson Road, Lowellville, said in her complaint that her son, Joseph Treharn, was a passenger on the school bus driven by Elisa Matlock, 37, of East Myrtle Avenue, when Matlock abruptly and negligently braked, bringing the bus to a rapid stop; and the bus was negligently rear-ended by a car driven by Christine F. Sowa, 46, of Henry Street, Hubbard.
The civil lawsuit, filed Friday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, demands a jury trial and seeks more than $25,000 each in damages from Sowa and the school district.
The city police report said Treharn was one of two students taken by ambulance to St. Elizabeth Health Center after the crash, in which the car and bus were eastbound on Oakwood Avenue, approaching Maryland Avenue on the city’s West Side at 2:27 p.m., Sept. 26, 2013.
The police report said the school bus “had to brake abruptly,” but it did not explain why.
Police charged Sowa with failure to maintain assured clear distance. She pleaded no contest in municipal court, and was found guilty and fined $35 and court costs.
Ted Roberts, a school board lawyer, said he didn’t have enough information to comment on the lawsuit, but that the board would likely refer the complaint to its insurance carrier, which would provide defense counsel.
Sowa could not be reached to comment.
The lawsuit is assigned to Judge R. Scott Krichbaum.