NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Tuesday, April 8, 2014, 11:40 AM
Updated: Tuesday, April 8, 2014, 11:50 AM
A survivor of last year’s deadly Metro North derailment in the Bronx has filed a $ 10 million negligence lawsuit against the agency.
In papers filed in Bronx Supreme Court, recently retired NYPD cop Eddie Russell says “was severely damaged, both psychologically and physically” in the fatal Dec. 1 wreck.
The April 4 suit — believed to be the first to be filed over the accident — blames the crash that killed four people on a number of factors, including engineer “William Rockefeller having “dozed off” while approaching a curve at high speed and the failure of Metro North and the MTA to have sufficient safety measures in place.
Russell’s lawyer, Robert Vilensky, said he’s seeking unspecified compensatory damages for his client’s injuries, and $ 10 million in punitive damages.
Barry Williams/for New York Daily News The train was going 82 mph as it approached a curve near the Spuyten Duyvil station.
John Minchillo/AP The Metro-North derailment on Dec. 1 killed four people and injured more than 70 others.
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Russell retired from the department last week, Vilensky said.
Vilensky cited a federal review that found the agency had “emphasized on-time performance to the detriment of safe operations and adequate maintenance of its infrastructure.”
A report by National Transportation Safety Board earlier this week found that Rockefeller, 46, suffered from a sleep disorder and had cold medication that caused drowsiness in his system at the time of the fatal crash.
Investigators have said the train was going 82 mph when it went off the rails at a curve near the Spuyten Duyvil station.
A rep for the MTA said the agency doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
Other suits are expected to be filed soon. Several other victims filed notices of claim — the first step in filing a lawsuit against Metro North — in the weeks after the crash, which left 70 people injured.
With Ben Chapman
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