Another lawsuit filed against the I-75 fatal wreck tractor trailer driver

Chattanooga, TN (WDEF) – Another family has come forward with a lawsuit against the truck driver that’s accused of killing six people when his semi plowed into stopped traffic in June.

Benjamin Brewer is charged with six counts of vehicular homicide after he drove his Peterbilt tractor trailer into stopped traffic on I-75.

Six people were killed and a dozen more injured.

John and Nancy Stanley of Braxton, Mississippi were two of those injured and last week, they filed suit for $1.5 million against Brewer and the truck company he worked for.

Their attorney Mike Jameson of Nashville describes the devastating crash when the semi struck them.

"They slowed their vehicle and eventually came to a complete stop behind other traffic because of the construction work when suddenly up behind them came a 26,000 pound Peterbilt
tractor trailer driven by Mr. Brewer that rear-ended them and atleast eight other vehicles causing severe injury to the Stanleys," he said.

The lawsuit says the Stanleys have "endured enormous physical and mental pain, suffering, and distress" as a result of the crash.

"The Stanleys are going to endure life changing injuries," Jameson said. "They are never going to be the way they were the day before this accident and trying to put any dollar figure on that to begin with is almost an exercise in futility."

This is the third civil lawsuit being brought against Brewer and his employer, Cool Runnings Express, Inc.

A local lawyer explains the difference between civil and criminal trials.

"Civil is strictly monetary damages, money, " Lee Davis with Davis & Hoss in Chattanooga said. "In this case, they’re not looking just to Mr. Brewer but they’ll look to the company that employed him because the allegations are that he had driven over 50 hours. The inquiry is going to be what did the company allow that allowed this driver to be on the streets of Hamilton County and create this calamity."

Brewer is in jail in Hamilton County and will be prosecuted by the district attorney’s office.

He will be arraigned in Hamilton County Criminal Court this Friday.