A father who lost his son nearly two years ago when a dead tree in Brandon Township fell and killed the 25-year-old man, is suing the Road Commission for Oakland County.
Attorney Jeffrey Himelhoch said he filed a lawsuit on Feb. 21 in Oakland County Circuit Court on behalf of Doral Lawrence, father of David Aaron Allen, a Columbiaville resident who died March 13, 2006, when a dead tree fell on the truck in which he was riding on Sherwood Road.
‘It’s a tragic set of circumstances and the young man lost his life, from a situation that could have been prevented,? said Himelhoch.
The suit is a three-count complaint, with the first count being for nuisance’a hazardous condition remaining over the roadway for an unreasonably long period of time, creating a nuisance for people using the road and the tree was in an inherently dangerous condition. The second count cites violation of the highway safety act, which says a road is to be kept in a reasonably safe condition. Himelhoch say the tree was hanging over the road and they had knowledge of it and it created a dangerous condition. The third count cites gross negligence for the RCOC failing to remove the tree after they had inspected the tree two months prior to the accident.
Craig Bryson, RCOC public information officer, said the RCOC does not comment on pending litigation.
Allen was one of three people injured when the cab of the Ford F-150 pick-up truck they were riding in was crushed by an oak tree that fell on it the afternoon of March 13, 2006 during winds that reached up to 60 mph. A branch from the tree struck Allen in his lower body, causing massive trauma. Firefighters used chainsaws to cut parts of the tree away and then the Jaws of Life to extricate Allen, as well as a 36-year-old female passenger and the 43-year-old male driver. Allen was taken to Genesys Regional Health Park, where he died soon after arrival. The driver and female passenger had non-life-threatening injuries.
According to a report from the RCOC, Sherwood Road resident Fred Swan reported the tree to the Department of Citizen Services in January 2006. The department received the call and routed it to the correct agency to handle the issue, Bryson said.
In the RCOC report obtained by The Citizen, the report stated ‘Res. (resident) says part of tree fell close to road some time ago and is worried that the rest of the tree is ready to fall. Res. says base of tree is about 8 (feet) off side of road. Please review for rest of tree removal and clean up, ‘it looks dangerous to drive under.??
The foreman received the message on Jan. 12, and went to Sherwood Road on Jan. 13. In the report from the RCOC foreman responded, ‘I see no hazard, nothing to be done at this time.?
However, the report stated the oak tree was about a 1/4 mile west of Baldwin Road. In an interview following the accident, Bryson told The Citizen the RCOC foreman never saw the tree that would eventually fall.
‘He never found the tree because the location given in the report by the resident was wrong,? Bryson said. ‘The directions to the tree provided by the resident was a good 1/4 mile from where the tree actually was. We went out and measured the location of the tree that fell and it was not where the resident said it was. Not to be critical of the resident’there’s a lot of trees along that road. Still there’s no guarantee, and it’s pure speculation, that the tree would have been cut down if the foreman had seen the right tree.?
Swan said at the time he was suprised they couldn’t find the tree.
‘You’d think they would ask me. They had my phone number and I’d meet him down there, it’s two minutes from my house. I can’t believe the couldn’t find that big tree.?