The only survivor of a crash that killed two men on the I-74 pedestrian path last May is now suing the City of Bettendorf and the company that designed the bridge, court documents show.
According to court documents, Charles Bowen, 22, was walking with Ethan Gonzalez, 21, and Anthony Castaneda, 18, on May 22, 2022, across the I-74 bridge’s pedestrian walkway when a car entered the walkway and struck them. The crash killed Gonzalez and Castaneda and seriously injured Bowen.
Chhabria Harris, 47, of East Moline, faces several charges in connection with the incident and is currently awaiting trial.
A civil suit was filed on behalf of Bowen in the U.S. District Court for the Central District Of Illinois, Rock Island Division, against the City of Bettendorf and WHKS & Co., Inc, an engineering and design company. The suit seeks damages in excess of $75,000, exclusive of interests and costs, according to court documents.
The suit alleges that “on or prior to May 22, 2022 (the date of the incident), numerous existing national standards, criteria, and design theories for pedestrian walkways required the installation of bollards and traffic safety control systems at the entrances to pedestrian walkways. A bollard is a short post used to create a protective or architectural perimeter.
On or prior to May 22, 2022, the aforesaid pedestrian walkway was not designed or constructed in accordance with any generally recognized engineering or safety standard, the suit says. On or prior to May 22, 2022, no barrier of any kind and/or traffic safety control system was installed at the pedestrian walkway entrance in Bettendorf, Iowa to prevent motor vehicle traffic from traveling on the pedestrian walkway or to warn motor vehicle operators that the pedestrian walkway, that was wide enough to accommodate motor vehicles, was a pedestrian walkway and was not intended to be used by motor vehicles.”
The suit further alleges in the first count that the City of Bettendorf owed a duty of care to all pedestrians to prevent motor vehicle traffic from using the walkway, to notify and warn vehicles that the walkway was only for pedestrians and bicycles, and to properly design, construct, inspect and/or maintain the entrance of the walkway. It further alleges that the City of Bettendorf was negligent and breached the duty of care owed to the plaintiff by failing to follow these directives and as a result, the plaintiff suffered severe personal injuries.
In the second count, the suit alleges that the City of Bettendorf owed a duty of care not to act in a willful and wanton manner regarding the design of the entrance of the pedestrian walkway and they should have known that bollards and/or other barriers should have been placed at the entrance. The suit alleges that the city intentionally opened the walkway without barricades to protect the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists and intentionally disregarded the direction of the Iowa Department of Transportation and opened the walkway at a time when it was not complete and safe for pedestrian use.
On or prior to May 22, 2022, according to the suit, as a direct and proximate result of the willful and wanton conduct of the Defendant, Charles Bowen sustained severe personal injuries.
In the third count, the suit alleges negligence against WHKS & Co., Inc., saying they also owe a duty of care to all pedestrians, including the plaintiff, to properly design, construct, inspect and/or maintain the entrance of the walkway. It alleges they were negligent and breached their duty of care by failing to design a walkway that included bollards and/or other barriers to prevent motor vehicle traffic from using the walkway.
In the fourth count, the suit alleges gross negligence for failing to design a walkway featuring barricades, failing to install bollards or other barricades to prevent vehicles from using the walkway and failing to warn traffic that the walkway was solely for the use of pedestrians and bicycles.
Harris’s case is set for pretrial conferences June 22 in Rock Island County Court, court documents say.
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