Families of 3 Idaho airmen killed in crash near Boise file wrongful death claims against ITD

BOISE – The families of three Mountain Home airmen who died in a fiery crash on Interstate 84 in June have filed tort claims against the Idaho Transportation Department, alleging that inadequate signage and warnings ahead of a construction zone contributed to a collision that killed four people. The three claims allege more than $12 million in damages.

The tort claims put the state on notice that they intend to file lawsuits. The state has 90 days to respond to the claims. If the state denies or does not respond to the claims, the families may file lawsuits.

Though damages sought are in the millions, there’s a cap for monetary judgments against state agencies: $500,000, regardless of the number of claimants, according to Diane Blume with the Idaho Department of Administration’s risk management program.

Killed in the June 16 crash were: Senior Airman Carlos “C.J.” Johnson, 23, of Key West, Florida; Senior Airman Lawrence “Pit” Manlapit III, 26, of Bridgeport, Connecticut; Senior Airman Karlie A. Westall, 21, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and tractor-trailer driver Illya D. Tsar, 42, of Rochester, N.Y.

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Johnson’s Jeep was stopped in a line of traffic on the interstate when it was struck from behind by Tsar’s 2019 Volvo, according to investigations by Idaho State Police and the National Transportation Safety Board. He was traveling an estimated 62 mph. Tsar had a large number of traffic violations prior to the crash, the Statesman reported following an investigation into his driving history.

In early December, Boise-based attorneys for Krujex Freight Transport Corp., the Oregon trucking company that Tsar worked for, sent a letter to 16 potential claimants in the crash, including the families of the airmen, those involved in secondary collisions and the Idaho Transportation Department. The letter, provided to the Statesman by one of the families, says that Krujex’s total insurance coverage amounts to $3 million; it offers the $3 million as a “global settlement” for all claims against Krujex.

Boise attorney Dan Jenkins of Craig Swapp & Associates, who is representing the Johnsons, said he has requested mediation. The non-economic damages cap per claimant for 2018 is $357,210.62, Blume said. But Jenkins said he’ll argue that Tsar was so reckless that the cap should not apply.

In addition to fatalities, the crash caused a fire that damaged the Cloverdale Road overpass. ITD estimated that it would cost $1.5 million to repair the overpass, but opted instead to replace the two-lane bridge with a four-lane bridge. The agency approved spending up to $8 million to do that.

The claim filed against ITD by Keith and Daisy Johnson says the construction zone near where the collision occurred was “negligently designed and/or engineered” because it provided “inadequate, improper or insufficient signage and notice to drivers.”

“Furthermore, ITD and the Idaho State Police were both made aware/notified of the dangerous conditions at or near the construction zone according to multiple reports/sources, and they failed to take action to protect, warn or notify drivers of the dangerous traffic conditions and/or construction zone,” states the claim received by the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office on Nov. 19.

Johnson’s parents are seeking damages that they estimate will exceed $5 million.

The claim filed by the parents of Westall contains that same language. They are seeking damages they expect to exceed $5 million on behalf of their daughter’s estate.

Manlapit’s father filed a claim on behalf of his son’s estate seeking $2 million. The cause of the damages listed is “traffic obstructed by construction project without appropriate warnings, highway markings, control or management.”

Two others involved in the crash filed a claim against ITD: Toina Jorgensen, 35, and Erika Medina, 25, both Nampa women, were involved in one of the chain-reaction collisions that occurred after Tsar’s tractor-trailer slammed into the back of Johnson’s Jeep. The women are each seeking damages not to exceed $35,000.

Krujex, company vice president Cornel Visan and Tsar, and their insurers, also filed a tort claim against ITD, seeking undetermined damages. They, too, cited inadequate signage and unsafe construction zone.

On the night of June 16, four lanes on Interstate 84 were reduced to one for a pavement sealing project. The crash occurred at about 11:30 p.m. as Tsar was headed east on I-84. Five other vehicles were struck after the initial collision.

The Jeep, while still being pushed by the Volvo, struck the back of a 2003 Volvo semitrailer driven by Roman Zhuk, 35, of Vancouver, Washington. Zhuk’s truck sideswiped a 2006 Ford Fusion driven by Jorgensen. She and Medina were treated at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center.

Jorgensen’s Ford rear-ended a 2014 Ford F-150 pickup driven by Gerald S. Shumway, 69, of Boise, and sideswiped a 2015 Ford Escape driven by Fernando D. Nitu, 33, of Nampa. Debris from Tsar’s truck struck a 2010 Ford Focus driven by Rachel Colburn, 19, of Boise.

Tsar’s truck burst into flames after the crash.

The night before the crash, a Boise woman called 911 to report that the construction zone was dangerous — and she wasn’t the only motorist who expressed concern, according to a June article by Statesman reporter John Sowell.

“We’re on the interstate, and they’ve got this stupid blockade going, and they’ve got people flying down on the left-hand lane that’s closed,” Jenni Berringer told an Ada County dispatcher, Sowell reported. “This is an accident waiting to happen. We’ve almost gotten hit three times.”

Officials with ITD said its contractor, The Penhall Co., of Anaheim, California, followed a 54-page safety plan in setting up the construction zone.

This article was first published by the Idaho Statesman Dec. 26. It is used here with permission.