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Driver in fatal accident sued
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By Bob Watson
bwatson@newstribune.com
Twelve days after a fatal collision, the two surviving members of Russellville's Olsen family sued Larry Gene Welch for actual and punitive damages.
Welch, 55, Russellville, was charged last week with two criminal counts of involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of Jean Olsen, 45, and her son, Tobias Olsen, 17, in the Nov. 4 accident on Route C, near Route U in western Cole County.
Welch also was charged with two counts of second-degree assault, for causing injuries to Eric Olsen, 41, and his daughter, Johanna, 14.
A probable cause statement filed with the charges said Welch had a blood-alcohol content of .08 percent - Missouri's legal minimum for a driving while intoxicated charge - when his eastbound vehicle crossed the center line of Route C and hit the Olsen vehicle.
Investigating officers said Eric Olsen swerved to avoid a collision, but that Welch's vehicle hit Olsen's vehicle on the passenger side.
The 11-page wrongful death and personal injury lawsuit was filed Friday by a St. Louis law firm on behalf of survivors Eric and Johanna Olsen.
It includes four counts specifically seeking damages in “an amount in excess of $25,000,” plus attorneys' fees.
The suit includes four other counts seeking “punitive damages, in a sum which will serve to punish the defendant and deter the defendant, and others, from like conduct in the future.”
The lawsuit accuses Welch of “show(ing) complete indifference to or conscious disregard for the safety of others” because of his “reckless operation of a motor vehicle” on Nov. 4.
Jean Olsen was pronounced dead at the scene by Cole County Medical Examiner Carl Doerhoff. Tobias Olsen was flown to the University of Missouri-Columbia Hospital after the accident and later died.
The suit uses identical language to argue that Jean and Tobias Olsen “suffered severe physical pain and severe emotional injuries ... from the time of the collision until the time that (he/she) died, as a result of these injuries.”
In arguing for a damages award to the two survivors, the lawsuit also uses identical language that Eric and Johanna Olsen have been “required to undergo medical care and treatment; (are) permanently partially disabled and handicapped; (have) suffered fear, anxiety and emotional distress (and) will be required to undergo additional care and incur additional expenses in the future.”
In an e-mailed news release announcing the lawsuit's filing, attorney Paul J. Passanante said: “Mr. Welch recklessly ruined their lives, and justice demands that he face the consequences.”
The case was assigned to Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce, according to the listing on the state courts' Case.net system. No hearing date was set as of Friday.
Welch, 55, Russellville, was charged last week with two criminal counts of involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of Jean Olsen, 45, and her son, Tobias Olsen, 17, in the Nov. 4 accident on Route C, near Route U in western Cole County.
Welch also was charged with two counts of second-degree assault, for causing injuries to Eric Olsen, 41, and his daughter, Johanna, 14.
A probable cause statement filed with the charges said Welch had a blood-alcohol content of .08 percent - Missouri's legal minimum for a driving while intoxicated charge - when his eastbound vehicle crossed the center line of Route C and hit the Olsen vehicle.
Investigating officers said Eric Olsen swerved to avoid a collision, but that Welch's vehicle hit Olsen's vehicle on the passenger side.
The 11-page wrongful death and personal injury lawsuit was filed Friday by a St. Louis law firm on behalf of survivors Eric and Johanna Olsen.
It includes four counts specifically seeking damages in “an amount in excess of $25,000,” plus attorneys' fees.
The suit includes four other counts seeking “punitive damages, in a sum which will serve to punish the defendant and deter the defendant, and others, from like conduct in the future.”
The lawsuit accuses Welch of “show(ing) complete indifference to or conscious disregard for the safety of others” because of his “reckless operation of a motor vehicle” on Nov. 4.
Jean Olsen was pronounced dead at the scene by Cole County Medical Examiner Carl Doerhoff. Tobias Olsen was flown to the University of Missouri-Columbia Hospital after the accident and later died.
The suit uses identical language to argue that Jean and Tobias Olsen “suffered severe physical pain and severe emotional injuries ... from the time of the collision until the time that (he/she) died, as a result of these injuries.”
In arguing for a damages award to the two survivors, the lawsuit also uses identical language that Eric and Johanna Olsen have been “required to undergo medical care and treatment; (are) permanently partially disabled and handicapped; (have) suffered fear, anxiety and emotional distress (and) will be required to undergo additional care and incur additional expenses in the future.”
In an e-mailed news release announcing the lawsuit's filing, attorney Paul J. Passanante said: “Mr. Welch recklessly ruined their lives, and justice demands that he face the consequences.”
The case was assigned to Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce, according to the listing on the state courts' Case.net system. No hearing date was set as of Friday.
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truthseeker wrote on Nov 23, 2007 11:06 AM: