Park Forest 2nd grader run over by school bus: Family sues driver, district for death
PARK FOREST, Ill. - A lawsuit will be filed against a school bus driver, suburban school district and bus company after a 7-year-old was hit and killed in Park Forest last month.
Around 3:13 p.m., on Jan. 20, police say Connor Kasmarski was struck by a school bus in the 100 block of Walnut Street.
He was transported to Franciscan Health Olympia Fields Hospital where he died from his injuries.
The lawsuit names Park Forest-Chicago Heights School District 153, Kickert School Bus Line and the bus driver Darryl Downs.
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Lawsuit filed after Park Forest 7-year-old hit, killed by school bus
A lawsuit is being filed today for the death of a second grader killed by a school bus last month. The Park Forest student was bit by the bus after school on Jan. 20. Now his family is suing the driver, school district and bus company.
The complaint claims the bus driver left him in the street while others had to call 911 for help.
Police said that their investigation shows the child was running alongside the passenger side of the bus and walked into the street directly in front of the bus. Police said there is no indication the driver knew the child had been hit.
The driver, who apparently was the usual driver for the route, was operating the vehicle without a proper school bus license as required by Illinois law, according to the complaint.
Downs was charged with operating a commercial vehicle with a canceled CDL, a class A misdemeanor. He is scheduled to be in court on March 31 in Markham.
The law office filing the suit will be holding a news conference Thursday at 2 p.m.