WARREN - The trucking company that owned the vehicle into which Warren firefighter Marc Titus crashed has been named in a wrongful death suit filed in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
The suit was filed Thursday against Predator Trucking, 3181 Trumbull Ave., Girard, and James Black of Sharon, Pa., who the suit says was driver of the tractor and dump trailer rig that overturned on state Route 11 when the dump bed struck the overpass at the King Graves Road overpass.
Five other ''John Doe'' defendants also were named in the suit filed by surviving family members of Titus, 46, who was killed after his motorcycle slammed into the overturned vehicle blocking the northbound lanes.
The dump bed was in a raised or partially raised position causing it to strike the overpass at the interchange, and the suit states that John or Jane Doe defendants are believed to have been responsible for the inspection, operation, maintenance or repair of the rig.
The suit lists eight different acts of negligence leading to the collision with the unlit undercarriage of the rig and Titus' 2006 Yamaha motorcycle that skidded before crashing into the rig after dark. No traffic charges were filed in connection with the crash.
Titus was not wearing a helmet when the crash occurred and suffered severe and fatal injuries, including fractures to both arms, jaw, multiple skull fractures, multiple rib fractures with protrusions into the chest cavity, lacerations and/or contusions of his lungs, liver, heart, brain and other body parts, according to the suit.
The estate of Titus, longtime union leader at the fire department, seeks more than $25,000 in damages.
The case has been assigned to Judge Andrew Logan. No hearing date has been set.