NEW BERN, N.C. — A federal jury has awarded $7 million in damages to a North Carolina trooper and his wife for when a passenger bus plowed into the trooper's SUV as he responded to an I-40/I-85 crash on Christmas Eve 2014.
Court documents obtained by CBS 17 show jurors decided Friday in New Bern that Trooper Chris Justice is entitled to $6 million from Greyhound Lines and bus driver J.L. Robinson. Their verdict also included $1 million for Lisa Justice.
There were 40 people on the bus during the crash that happened the morning of Dec. 24, 2014. The wreck happened on I-40/I-85 in Alamance County, at the Tanger Outlets near the Orange County line.
The trooper was injured when a Greyhound bus slammed into his SUV while he was sitting inside the vehicle at mile marker 155.
Trooper Justice was blocking traffic while crews were investigating another wreck at the next exit.
Tiffany Jennings, a 33-year-old High Point woman died in the crash that was being investigated.
Greyhound had denied negligence, arguing the Highway Patrol shared responsibility for what happened. Court documents showed no negligence on the part of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.