South Carolina Fire Department Sued For Wrongful Death

The family of a man killed last year in a motorcycle accident is suing a South Carolina fire department claiming the fire chief’s decision to drive a truck off him caused the death.

Ian Nicholson, 32, was driving a motorcycle that collided with a box truck on October 9, 2015 in Jasper County. Nicholson was pinned under the truck, but was reportedly alive when the Levy Volunteer Fire Department arrived on scene.

According to the lawsuit, Levy Fire Chief Douglas Graham ordered the truck to be driven off Nicholson. He died several minutes later.

The family’s attorney, Tabor Vaux, was quoted by WTOC.com as saying “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.”

More on the story.

UPDATE: 5/19/16 – here is the complaint: Nicholson-v-Levy-wrongful-death-lawsuit