A Jefferson County resident is suing a Beaumont business and its owner alleging vehicular negligence in a 2013 highway collision.
Benjamin Alvarado sued Richard Design Services Inc. and Arthur Ray Richard of Nederland in Jefferson County District Court on June 19, claiming liability for damages in the August 2013 accident.
According to the suit, both parties were traveling eastbound on State Highway 73 on Aug. 9, 2013. The suit states that Alvarado was a back seat passenger in a Ford truck, and Richard was operating a GMC Yukon in the scope of his employment for his company.
The complaint states that when Alvarado’s vehicle slowed down for traffic, the defendant failed to observe traffic conditions, crashing into the plaintiff’s vehicle at “an extremely high rate of speed.” Local law enforcement authorities attributed the accident to his failure to control speed, noting that the defendant may have been fatigued or asleep as a possible contributing factor. Richard is additionally cited with failure to drive safely, maintain a lookout, apply his brakes, and take evasive action to avoid the crash.
The suit states that the damage was so severe that both vehicles required towing and were total losses; and the plaintiff’s head snapped back “with such force that it hit and broke out the back glass behind him.” Four people were hospitalized, three of them from the plaintiff’s vehicle.
Claiming severe neck and bodily injuries, pain, anguish, disfigurement, lost earning capacity, and medical bills, Alvarado seeks over $1 million for damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, attorney’s fees, expenses, and costs.
The plaintiff is represented by Malachi Daws of The Daws Law Firm in Beaumont.
Jefferson County District Court Case A-197325