Family of Alsip man killed in bus crash file wrongful death suit

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Updated: February 19, 2012 1:01PM

The family of an Alsip man who died in February 2011 after crashing into the back of a school bus filed a wrongful death lawsuit Friday against the bus driver and bus company.

David Ramirez was driving a Dodge Caravan south on Interstate 294 in Leyden Township when a school bus “dramatically reduced speed” because of mechanical problems and crashed into the Caravan in an attempt to change lanes, according to a suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

Illinois State Police Master Sgt. R. Story said at the time that Ramirez crashed into the rear of the school bus at 4:57 p.m. Feb. 19, 2011.

Ramirez, 30, of the 3600 block of West Benck Drive in Alsip, was initially taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where he was pronounced dead at 2 a.m. Feb. 20, 2011, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

An autopsy confirmed Ramirez died of multiple injuries from a sport utility vehicle striking a bus and the death was ruled an accident, the medical examiner’s office said.

State Police said there were no children on the bus and nobody else inside the SUV.

The suit claims the bus driver, David McCarthy, and the bus company, Warning Charter Service Inc., failed to maintain the bus, failed to keep a sufficient lookout and failed to keep the bus under control.

Warning Charger Service was not immediately available for comment Friday night.

The eight-count wrongful death suit is seeking judgment against Warning Charter Services and McCarthy.