Lawsuit notice says Greenway lacking traffic barriers at dangerous curve

June 19--EVANSVILLE -- An Evansville doctor is putting local officials on notice that he plans to file a lawsuit over a lack of traffic barriers near a section of Pigeon Creek Greenway Passage where he was struck by the truck of a man charged with drunk driving.

Dr. Conrad De Jesus, 46, is permanently paralyzed from the neck down because of a severe spinal injury from the April 15 incident, said George Barnett, his attorney.

"He spent 60 days in the Deaconess Hospital intensive care unit essentially flat on his back and incubated," Barnett said. "Once he was able to breathe on his own, they moved him to Frazier Rehab Institute in Louisville."

The move to rehabilitation last week coincided with a tort claim notice sent to various local and state government entities. Such notices are the first step in seeking compensation from a government body. Officials have 90 days to admit or deny the claim before an actual lawsuit may be filed, Barnett said.

Indiana law caps damage claims against cities at $700,000 for individuals and $5 million for all victims in a single incident. An Indiana Court of Appeals panel upheld the state's cap on tort claim damages in a May 14 decision.

City officials have received the notice but could not speak to its claims because it is pending litigation, said Ella Johnson-Watson, spokeswoman for Mayor Lloyd Winnecke.

In addition to the mayor, the tort notice is addressed to the Evansville Department of Parks & Recreation, Vanderburgh County Commissioners, City Council, Levee Authority, Evansville Metropolitan Planning Organization, Indiana Department of Transportation and the state's Political Subdivision Risk Management Committee.

According to the tort claim notice: "This section of the design and implementation of the Greenway is dangerous, defective and potentially deadly to current and future users of the Greenway, like Dr. De Jesus. In this case the life-altering impact caused by the lack of safety barriers or other protective structures on an otherwise high-volume four-lane roadway on a sharp curve, has devastated a family and critically injured the very type of user that the Greenway was designed for and hoped to attract."

De Jesus is a doctor of physical therapy with a private practice in Evansville, Barnett said, but his business has been essentially halted by his injuries. De Jesus and his wife have four children, including two in high school.

The incident happened just before 8:30 p.m. April 15 when 22-year-old Travis Cox, of Owensboro, Kentucky, reportedly struck De Jesus after his truck left the roadway on the curve where Fulton Avenue joins Riverside Drive near Tropicana Evansville casino.

De Jesus was on the Greenway training for a marathon when Cox's truck plowed over a bench and a sign and knocked De Jesus into a drainage ditch, according to the tort claim notice. Emergency responders revived De Jesus after finding him without a pulse.

Cox drove off but was apprehended after becoming stuck in flood waters on Waterworks Road. He is charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, leaving the scene of an accident and criminal recklessness.

"There is no guard rail or barrier there to protect people from a drunk driver, somebody texting or who has a blow out and goes off the road. The next time it could be a family of six with a baby stroller," Barnett said. "I'm a fan of the Greenway. There are very many parts of it that are totally safe but there are places you have to take the traffic into consideration."

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