LEVY, S.C. — The family of a man killed in a crash last year has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the fire department that responded.
WTOC.com reported that Ian Nicholson’s family alleges the Oct. 9 collision didn’t kill him, but a decision made by the Levy Volunteer Fire Department did. According to court documents, Nicholson was alive but he was pinned under a truck after the crash.
Fire Chief Douglas Graham ordered crews to remove the truck by driving it off of him. Nicholson died minutes later.
“Their number one priority should be preservation of life. In this case, when they arrived at the scene of the collision, Mr. Nicholson was fighting for his life, underneath the tires of a box truck. We have evidence that shows the fire department caused the box truck to be driven off of Mr. Nicholson while he was alive and over the objections of other professionals on the scene,” Tabor Vaux, Nicholson’s estate lawyer, said.
Chief Graham declined to comment on the lawsuit.