Broward to settle case of teen run over by bus

Jerry Cunningham was 14 when he ran to catch a Broward mass transit bus, stuck his hand in the door as it pulled away and was partially run over while his mother watched.

He’s 18 now, working to graduate from high school, his life permanently altered by a traumatic brain injury, court documents say.

The accident horrified bus passengers and witnesses, according to court documents and video from the accident.

His parents sued, and a settlement with the county for up to $850,000 is expected to be approved Tuesday. Cunningham’s medical bills totaled $640,000, according to the county.

Cunningham and his mother, Lilliam, were walking on a Friday morning, May 10, 2013, to the bus stop at East Sample Road and Northeast 12th Avenue, from their Pompano Beach home. Cunningham was a student at Crystal Lake Middle School and his mother was escorting him to the school.

As they neared the bus stop, Lilliam Cunningham had trouble with a shoe and fell. She told her son to run and catch the bus. He caught up to it, as a passenger shouted to the driver that there were “runners coming.” He stuck his hand in the door, but the door closed and it pulled away.

Cunningham’s family argued that his right hand was stuck in the door. His mother said in court documents that he appeared “stuck to the bus.” The county disputed that, arguing that he held on to it as he ran alongside the bus.

County commissioners are scheduled to vote Tuesday to pay the family $300,000, the maximum a local government is liable for under Florida’s sovereign immunity law. The remaining $550,000 would be paid by the county if approved by the state Legislature.

Under the terms of the proposed settlement, the county would agree not to fight the $550,000 claims bill (SB 314), which has been filed in the Senate by Sen. Gary Farmer, a Broward Democrat. A required companion bill has not been in the House.