A Foxworth woman is suing groups associated with the Columbia Christmas Train after her car and a train collided.
Lacey Medious is asking a judge to award her $500,000 to compensate for damages and $500,000 for her son Solomon Evans.
She alleges in the lawsuit that negligence by the operators of the train caused the wreck on Dec. 10, 2016, at the railroad crossing on Evergreen Street.
The entities being sued have filed replies denying the allegations, saying Medious was responsible for what happened. They include Marion County, the Marion County Railroad Authority, the Marion County Economic Development District, the Marion County Development Partnership, the City of Columbia and the Columbia Expo Center.
The Railroad Authority owns the train and the recreational track, which goes about 1.5 miles through Columbia, and had leased its use to a private party, Jeremy Gartman, to run the Christmas Train tours, which are similar to the Polar Express rides popular throughout the country. Gartman also leased the Expo Center, which is where the rides started and ended, from the city.
There are two different set of events presented by the opposing sides in the case.
The lawsuit, filed in Marion County Circuit Court in October, alleges there was not anyone at the crossing to warn drivers. It also alleges the defendants did not keep a proper lookout while operating the train, properly signal when approaching the crossing or indicate the crossing with a sign, signal or paint.
“Ms. Medious’ vehicle approached the train tracks which were painted over by street markings in a manner which disguised the visibility of the tracks and indicated that the tracks were not in use for train service, when a Columbia Expo Train, traveling in reverse, struck her vehicle,” the lawsuit states in its notice of claims. “There was an unknown male individual wearing a vest and carrying a small light near or on the track – his role in this fact situation is not completely clear.”
The lawsuit said at the time of the accident there was a crossbuck (an X-shaped sign indicating a railroad crossing) at the top of a yield sign at the intersection of Evergreen and Orleans streets.
The lawsuit said Medious suffered from head and neck injuries and has been unable to work as a house cleaner since the wreck. It said her son suffered facial injuries from broken glass and has nightmares. The lawsuit said both of them sought medical treatment following the accident at Marion General Hospital.
The defendants have a different perspective on what happened. The city’s response said in one section that “the plaintiffs’ injuries, if any, the same being denied, resulted from the plaintiff’s own negligence.”
The Marion County Development Partnership said, “The plaintiff had a duty to look out for her own safety. The condition at the railroad crossing was open and obvious, and the plaintiff was responsible for her injury.”
Police had said at the time of the wreck that no one was hurt in the collision, which happened at about 6 p.m. on a Saturday. The train hit the back of a Nissan Quest.
“The train was estimated to be traveling about four miles per hour,” Columbia Police Department Chief Mike Cooper said at the time of the wreck. “The female stated she saw the flashing yellow lights but didn’t stop for them.”
Police said at the time that the railroad had a man stationed with a flag at the crossing.
The lawsuit also includes the Marion County Development Corp., an unrelated entity with no assets whose only living officer suffers from dementia, according to a court document. It was apparently done by mistake, and attorneys are asking for it to be dropped from the case.
The plaintiffs are represented by George Healy IV of Gulfport. Lawyers for the defendants include James Holland of Jackson, Marion County Development Partnership; Robert Allen of Brookhaven, Marion County Economic Development District and Marion County Railroad Authority; and Lawrence Hahn of Columbia, City of Columbia.
Pictured Above: CPD officers and CFD firefighters work the scene of the crash in December 2016. | File Photo
