Family of woman killed by bus in Steeterville sues coach company
SUN-TIMES MEDIA WIRE May 17, 2011 3:40PM
Updated: May 17, 2011 3:56PM
The family of a 26-year-old woman fatally struck by a tour bus as she walked in Streeterville filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming the owners of the bus were negligent in hiring a driver who had a history of traffic violations.
The suit, filed in Cook County court by the family of Justyna Palka, names Pontarelli Group Charters, which operated the bus driven by David Soto. The vehicle struck Palka as she crossed Columbus at Illinois — with a green light — on May 3, the family’s attorneys said in a written statement.
Soto, 47, of the 8600 block of West Berwyn, was charged with aggravated DUI resulting in death. He is being held without bond in the Cook County Jail. Soto allegedly tested positive for cocaine, the statement said.
The suit claims Pontarelli was negligent in hiring and retaining a convicted felon who had 20 citations for traffic violations and whose Commercial Drivers License was temporarily suspended in 2008.
“Pontarelli’s utter failure to ensure that its professional drivers were appropriately qualified resulted in a truly unnecessary loss of life,” attorney Thomas Demetrio said in the statement. “This lawsuit will expose the flaws in Pontarelli’s hiring and retention practices.”
The suit also claims that if Pontarelli had done proper background checks, it would have known that Soto was also wanted for molesting children.
After Palka was hit, police discovered Soto was wanted by authorities; he was also charged with predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a victim under 13. Those charges involve 8- and 6-year-old girls who were attending a sleepover at his home in December 2008, Cook County prosecutors said at a court hearing earlier this month.
Palka, who lived in the area, was an art director at the Ogilvy & Mather communications firm who had studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
“The Palka Family is justifiably devastated by the loss of Justyna. ... While their memory of this bright, loving, talented and beautiful young woman will endure, their grief is immeasurable,” attorney William Gibbs said in the statement.
The suit also requests the judge to issue an Emergency Protective Order forcing Pontarelli to preserve the bus to allow experts to examine videotape footage and Black Box data.
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