Apartment manager who saw son hit by car files $750,000 lawsuit

An apartment manager who saw her son struck by a car at an Oak Ridge apartment complex in June has filed a $750,000 lawsuit against the driver and the driver’s husband.

Kimberly Roark filed the complaint on behalf of her and her son in Anderson County Circuit Court on July 19.

Roark is the resident manager at British Woods Apartments on Briarcliff Avenue. The driver, Zhenfeng Han, and her husband, Shaohua Liu, who owns the car, also live there.

The lawsuit alleged Han was driving “in a grossly negligent and reckless manner by speeding through the parking lot of the apartment complex” when she hit Jackson C. Webster, 8, at about 4:30 p.m. June 5. Roark was outside her office when the collision occurred, and she witnessed the crash, which launched the boy onto the hood of the 1998 Toyota Camry, the complaint said.

It said the Camry traveled about 166 feet before it stopped with the front driver’s side tire on the boy’s foot. The lawsuit said Webster sustained significant injuries, including a fractured skull, a “brain bleed,” a probable fracture of the left foot, and the symptoms of a traumatic brain injury. Webster has endured a great deal of pain and suffering, will likely need future medical treatment, and has suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, the complaint said. Some of his injuries could be permanent, it said.

Meanwhile, Roark sustained “extreme fright, worry and concern, extreme mental distress, and anguish,” the lawsuit said.

It said Han failed to maintain the car under “due and proper control,” failed to maintain and keep a proper lookout in the direction she was driving, failed to see Webster in time, and failed to bring the vehicle under control. It said Han should have known that children were frequently crossing the parking lot at or near the recreation area where the accident occurred.

Han told the Oak Ridge Police Department at the time of the crash that she had slowed for speed bumps at the British Woods Apartments and struck Webster just after her rear tires crossed the speed bump. She said she panicked when she realized she had hit someone, and her foot hit the accelerator.

But then “she indicated she regained control and found the brake and stopped the vehicle,” according to a crash report.

The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and $500,000 for Webster and $250,000 for Roark.