Penn State University and one of its football players are facing a lawsuit, per a report by StateCollege.com.
The suit is being filed by the family of a 6-year-old boy who was hit by an e-scooter driven by freshman DL De’Andre Cook on campus this past February.
This past Tuesday, Shane Richard, the boy’s father, filed the suit against Cook and Penn State. Richard, a Union County native, is seeking $100,000 for two counts of negligence per StateCollege.com.
“According to the filing, the boy was walking in a crosswalk on North Burrowes Road at 6:10 p.m. on Feb. 18 when Cook failed to stop the scooter at a stop sign and struck him,” reported Geoff Rushton of StateCollege.com.
“The boy sustained two pelvic fractures, a broken right foot, closed head injury, forehead contusion and scalp laceration, attorney Richard Godshall wrote.”
“Cook pleaded guilty to summary citations for failing to stop at a stop sign and failing to yield to a pedestrian. He paid $238 in fines.”
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.The lawsuit claims Penn State violated its own campus policy which prohibits motor-driven devices such as e-scooters that fall short of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code’s requirements to be used on public highways from being used on campus roads, paths and sidewalks.
Per Godshall, Penn State only lets student-athletes use e-scooters on campus, which he feels is “special favoritism” that led to the child’s injuries.
Cook, a consensus three-star prospect from Washington D.C., is in his true freshman season. He hasn’t appeared in any of the team’s first n nine.
Game No. 10 is scheduled for 3:30 against Purdue Saturday on CBS. Penn State 8-1 and ranked No. 4 in the country.
