Amazon sued after teen injured in school bus crash – Business News
The household of an Indiana teen who suffered traumatic mind accidents final yr in a school bus crash is suing Amazon, a trucking company and native county officers for allegedly failing to keep a driver with a 20-year historical past of driving violations and drug use off the highway.
On May 8, 2025, Lucas Bradshaw, then 16, was touring to a recreation together with his junior varsity baseball group when truck driver Shawn Akison, 42, crashed into the back of their mini school bus, in accordance with a lawsuit filed final week in state court docket.
Akison was impaired by fentanyl, utilizing his telephone to test the Amazon app and touring more than 75 mph in a 45-mph zone when the crash occurred – overturning the school bus and ejecting Bradshaw roughly 75 toes, the criticism alleged.
Lucas Bradshaw, then 16, suffered traumatic mind accidents in a school bus crash final yr, in accordance with the lawsuit. WNDU
Bradshaw was rushed into emergency mind surgical procedure after the crash and was in a coma for 54 days, spending a complete of 125 days hospitalized and in intensive rehabilitation, in accordance with the swimsuit.
The teen suffered a extreme traumatic mind harm, a number of mind hemorrhages, facial fractures and a damaged arm, and continues to reside with important cognitive impairment, reminiscence loss, imaginative and prescient loss and impaired mobility, in accordance with the swimsuit and his attorneys.
His household is in search of damages from Amazon and Elite Courier, the trucking company that employed Akison, arguing they didn’t adequately carry out background checks on Akison.
They are additionally in search of damages from St. Joseph County, alleging police officers have been conscious of Akison’s erratic driving on May 8 and even initiated a pursuit – however terminated the chase with out reporting it to neighboring LaPorte County officers as soon as Akison crossed the county line.
It is the third lawsuit filed in reference to the crash, which reportedly concerned one other school bus and a fourth vehicle – injuring seven baseball gamers and two coaches.
“This was a tragedy, and our hearts are with the families affected as they recover and the entire LaPorte County community,” an Amazon spokesperson advised The Post. “Given this is active litigation, we have no further comment.”
Shawn Akison pleaded guilty to inflicting catastrophic harm whereas working a motor vehicle below the affect. WNDU/LaPorte County Sheriffs Department
Akison was employed by Elite Courier, a third-party trucking company based mostly in Illinois, and made Amazon deliveries as a subcontractor by the app Amazon Relay. According to company coverage, Amazon conducts day by day service screenings and driver verifications, leaving the third-party courier liable for background checks.
But the lawsuit described the life-changing incident as a preventable tragedy, arguing neither Amazon nor Elite Courier flagged Akison despite the fact that he had a historical past of driving with a suspended license, rushing, illegal use of a telephone whereas driving, weaving in and out of lanes and even leaving the scene of a separate visitors crash.
In January 2025, much less than 4 months earlier than the tragic school bus crash, Akison was arrested and charged for possession of heroin whereas he was making Amazon deliveries for Elite Courier after native police obtained 911 calls about his erratic driving, in accordance with the lawsuit.
The overturned mini school bus and the freight truck concerned in the tragic crash final yr. WNDU
Earlier this yr, Akison was sentenced to eight years in Indiana jail after he pleaded guilty to inflicting catastrophic harm whereas working a motor vehicle below the affect.
In addition to fentanyl, Akison had consumed cocaine roughly 5 days earlier than the school bus crash, in addition to three unprescribed Hydrocodone tablets the day earlier than the crash, in accordance with the lawsuit.
St. Joseph County Police didn’t instantly reply to The Post’s request for remark. Elite Courier couldn’t be reached.
