A settlement was reached this week in a wrongful death lawsuit filed after a fatal crash that occurred in January on U.S. 50 in Osage County.
According to Missouri Highway Patrol reports, an Ice Cream Factory box truck driven by Kale Durr, 22, of St. Robert, made an improper pass around a semi-truck tractor-trailer in a no-passing zone and on a blind curve, causing a head-on collision with a vehicle driven by Zachary Patchin, 28, of Barnhart. Durr's vehicle traveled off the roadway and overturned while Patchin's vehicle caught fire and burned. Both men died.
The lawsuit alleged the Ice Cream Factory was negligent because the company knew, or should have known, that Durr did not have the required license and training to operate its truck.
Patchin had a daughter who was born after his death. She, along with his mother and his father, will each receive cash payments as part of the $4.5 million settlement.
The settlement, which was approved by Judge Ryan Helfrich, resolved the lawsuit that had been pending in the Franklin County Circuit Court.