MOORHEAD, Minnesota (Valley News Live) – The parents of two teenagers who died in an accident on Interstate-94 in 2015 have filed a civil rights complaint in Minnesota District Court.
Ray and Katherine Kvalvog name Christopher Nellermoe, Kent Hennestad, Josh Lee, and Tim Kerr who were all employed at Park Christian School at the time. The lawsuit also names Rodney Eichens, Brian Cheney, and Matthew Langer, who at the time worked for the Minnesota State Patrol.
Zach Kvalvog was 18 years old and Connor Kvalvog was 14 years old when they were involved in an accident just after 9:00 a.m. on June 23, 2015 on I-94 near Dalton, Minnesota.
The boys were traveling with fellow Park Christian players and coaches Josh Lee and Tim Kerr to a basketball tournament in Wisconsin. Zach drove his parents’ Dodge Ram pickup with Connor and two other teammates as passengers.
The lawsuit alleges that Kerr led the three-vehicle caravan, followed by Lee, and then the Kvalvog vehicle. The lawsuit also states that Kerr overtook an articulated lorry, Lee overtook the same articulated lorry but cut it off, causing the articulated lorry to slip into the passing lane that the Kvalvog vehicle was in.
Zach Kvalvog couldn’t prevent the crash. The truck overturned and blew up, and the roof was torn off by the guardrail wire. The other two passengers were thrown from the truck and survived. Zach died while he was still strapped into the truck. Connor was thrown out and later died of his injuries.
The lawsuit alleges that the coaches failed to assist or review the players after the crash and lied to law enforcement agencies about the facts of the crash.
Another allegation made in the lawsuit is that Eischens has mixed business and personal relationships in the past, which is relevant in this case as he had relationships with the management of the Park Christian School and its administrators.
The Kvalvogs claim that Eichens’ crash report contained inaccurate information and misleading conclusions. In addition, statements were either adopted from the other teammates involved in the crash and not used or not used at all.
The Kvalvogs lost a wrongful death lawsuit against Park Christian and Lee in 2019.
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