WRONGFUL DEATH LAWSUIT FILED FOR TOW TRUCK OPERATOR DEADLY OVERPASS FALL
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (March 25, 2019) – Domnick Cunningham & Yaffa filed a lawsuit today in Palm Beach County Circuit Court seeking justice for the widow of Richard Randolph, 69, a tow truck operator who fell to his death from an Interstate 95 overpass while aiding in a Boca Raton truck crash in 2017.
Mr. Randolph spent decades working as a tow-truck operator answering calls for complex and dangerous accidents. On April 12, 2017, he responded to a call to remove a tractor-trailer that had overturned on the Interstate 95 overpass at Congress Avenue in Boca Raton, Florida. The disabled tractor-trailer jutted out over Interstate 95, presenting a danger to the motoring public below during the morning rush hour and requiring law enforcement to close most of the southbound lanes of Interstate 95.
The driver of the toppled tractor-trailer, owned by JJR Transport & Logistics, Inc., failed to turn right from the southbound Interstate 95 exit ramp to Congress Avenue, and instead hit a concrete barrier in the median of the Congress Avenue overpass, and overturned. The toppled tractor-trailer came to rest on top of the outside barrier wall of the overpass at Congress Avenue, and jutted out dangerously over Interstate 95, a main artery of transportation in South Florida.
Domnick Cunningham & Yaffa attorneys Sean C. Domnick and Matthew T. Christ filed the lawsuit on behalf of Mr. Randolph’s wife Judith, alleging that the negligence of JJR Transport & Logistics, Inc. and its truck driver resulted in Mr. Randolph’s tragic death during his attempt to upright the company’s overturned tractor-trailer. The Florida Legislature in 2018 renamed the Interstate 95 overpass at Congress Avenue as the “Richard Jason Randolph Memorial Bridge,” which the City of Boca Raton recognized “as a memorial to Mr. Randolph’s life and many years of service in enhancing safety for others.”
Mrs. Randolph stated at the filing, “There have been at least 6 accidents reported at this location over the years and no action has been taken to make it safer. My husband loved that his work allowed him to help people, but he suffered a terrible price because safety was not made a priority. I hope those responsible vow to own their negligence and take the measures necessary to ensure another life is not lost in vain.”
Sean Domnick, a Shareholder at Domnick Cunningham & Yaffa, explained the negligence in the wrongful death case. “Mr. Randolph would never have been in the position to fall, had the driver slowed down and properly turned off of Interstate 95 and onto Congress Avenue. The overturned tractor-trailer that dangled over Interstate 95 placed not just the property of JJR Transport & Logistics in imminent peril, but also the public, and Mr. Randolph responded quickly to minimize further harm to both. In trying to prevent tragedy Mr. Randolph became the victim of one.”