JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After a four-week trial, a Nassau County jury reached a unanimous $141.5 million verdict Wednesday evening in a logging truck crash case that occurred in March 2020, according to attorney Curry Pajcic.

Pajcic said three people were seriously injured in the crash, including a 5-year-old girl who suffered permanent brain damage. The truck driver had a long history of crimes and traffic violations, and Pajcic said the company that hired him did not do a background check.

“This is the most blatant disregard for security we have ever seen,” Pajcic said at a news conference Thursday.

On March 3, 2020, a man identified as Ellis Eugene Trollinger was driving an 80,000-pound logging truck on State Road 200 in Nassau County. At the time, Trollinger was working for K&N Logging, a logging truck company based in Columbia County.

Trollinger had been driving since 4 a.m. and was going 67 mph in a 45 mph zone when he approached a congested area of ​​construction workers, school buses and traffic stops as parents were picking up their children from school, Pajcic said.

Pajcic said Trollinger failed to notice stopped traffic in time and crashed into the back end of the row of cars.

“Trollinger broke the rules and safety rules,” Pajcic said. “A truck driver must always look where he is going and see what there is to see in order to control the speed of his truck.”

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Families of the victims sued Trollinger and K&N Logging for violating dozens of rules. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.

It’s unclear why Trollinger couldn’t see the stopped traffic, according to Pajcic.

Pajcic said he wasn’t sure if Trollinger was under the influence of a substance because the company failed and refused to take a drug test after the crash. It’s also unclear whether he was tired of driving for the maximum amount of time because the company never had him fill out the log books. He said it was unclear whether Trollinger was looking at his cell phone at the time of the crash because his records were destroyed.

According to Pajcic, the company hired Trollinger “blindly” and put him on the highway without any application, background check, driving history or criminal record review. Moreover, the company did not check Trollinger’s previous employers and never conducted pre-employment testing.

“Zero training, zero inspection, zero logbook, zero hours of service, zero training on enforcement and how to tie logs, and then he pays him cash under the table and pays him by the load and tells him to just drive,” Pajcic said. .

During the trial, the jury learned about Trollinger’s “embellished” criminal history, which included battery on a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, jaywalking and speeding in a commercial motor vehicle, a DUI crash and more. To Pajcic.

Trollinger was also pulled over for running a stop sign and arrested on a felony methamphetamine possession charge.

“On the morning of this accident, when the logging truck industry, K&N Logging, put it back on the road, it was taken out of service because it was operating a logging truck with its belts cut in half,” Pajcic said. “He called the company and they said, ‘Buy another load.’ ‘Keep driving.’”

Pajcic also said Trollinger was fired by two of his four previous employers for causing accidents and speeding.

After learning about Trollinger’s criminal history and hearing from trucking experts, the jury reached a verdict awarding the victims $16.5 million in compensatory damages and $125 million in punitive damages.

Pajcic said he hopes this decision sends a message to the logging truck industry.

“The logging truck industry feels like the rules don’t apply to them,” Pajcic said. “This jury had the opportunity to shine a bright light on the danger and corruption in the logging truck industry.”

Mike Miller, one of those injured in the crash, spoke at a news conference in Jacksonville on Thursday.

“I am grateful to the jury for sending a loud and clear message to the logging truck industry that we are back on the streets. “Follow the rules or you will be held accountable,” Miller said.