A Dallas jury awarded $20 million in damages to the family of a Washington State man who was killed while running to catch up with a Greyhound bus in 2017.
A report by The Oregonian said the jury voted 10-2 to find Dallas-based Greyhound responsible for the 2017 death of Hunter Brown. His parents, Dr. Barry Brown and Paula Becker, were awarded $18 million in compensatory damages, the report said, with Greyhound keeping the remaining $2 million in damages because the jury assigned 10% of responsibility to Hunter Brown.
Brown, 25, was traveling to California from Washington when his Greyhound bus made a late-night rest stop in southern Oregon.
The suit accuses the bus driver, Arthur Coley, of leaving the rest stop before the announced departure time.
“As Coley was making a wide right turn onto the adjoining roadway, Hunter ran up to the side of the bus, banging on the door and begging Coley to stop the bus to let him on,” the suit alleges. “Coley looked out the door at Hunter, but instead of stopping, he kept turning to the right, directly towards Hunter.”
Hunter was caught off balance and was run over by the front right side tire of the bus, the suit says. It goes on to describe how passengers heard a “thump thump” before Coley stoped the bus.
"This was a horrible, entirely preventable tragedy," said Hunter family attorney Charla Aldous. "Greyhound has an obligation to keep its passengers safe. That certainly was not the case here. We are thankful for the jury's careful consideration of the evidence and for holding Greyhound responsible."
Greyhound declined NBC 5’s request for comment.
