SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (WHBL) -- A Sheboygan County jury has found the City of Sheboygan half at fault and cleared a public works driver in the wrongful death of a man who was struck and killed by a leaf collection truck in 2011.
Jaime Olivas was struck and killed by a Sheboygan leaf collection truck while heading to school. Olivas' family filed suit against the city in 2014, and Olivas' family attorney argued that a leaf collector mounted on a city truck blocked the driver's view when Olivas stepped into the street and was struck. The city's attorney argued in court that Olivas was jaywalking at the time and did not look for traffic when he entered the road.
Mayor Mike Vandersteen says he's content with the verdict and that the city is not going to appeal. "I'm good with the finding of guilt being split evenly between both parties. I think that was a good verdict and we can live with that." The Mayor is also asking the community to let some healing begin and move forward.
He says the city has already made changes to its fleet to prevent this sort of accident in the future. "After the accident, the State Patrol requested that we stop using that type of device on our trucks for leaf collection and we did that." He says those trucks were entering their end of life and have been replaced with tow-behind models that provide better vision.
The jury is awarding the family $250,000 in damages. Calls to the family's attorney were not immediately returned this afternoon.