The mother of Frackville State Trooper Michael E. Pahira Jr., killed when a truck driver veered off I-81 in Schuylkill County and struck him, is suing the driver, the trucking company and the company that brokered the load he was hauling.

Patricia Pahira, of Ashland, filed the suit on Wednesday against truck driver Michael Bon, a Haitian national living in Brockton, Mass.; Augustin Freight Services LLC, Albertville, Alabama, and SNK Logistics LLC, Houston, Texas, in U.S. District Court, Scranton via Morgan & Morgan Attorney Clancy Boylan, Pittsburgh.

The suit asks for a jury trial and damages exceeding $150,000.

According to the suit, Bon’s attorney said he had a seizure and had been diagnosed with epilepsy while in Haiti. However, in applying for his commercial driver’s license, Bon had checked “no” in response to the question asking if the applicant had a history of seizures or epilepsy.

Further, a blood test revealed the presence of THC, a chemical compound of marijuana, in Bon’s system at the time of the crash.

The suit contends Bon had enough time to pull his rig into the left lane of the highway when he saw the flashing lights of Pahira’s state police vehicle, which was parked behind the truck he had pulled off the road to inspect.

“As a result of the crash, as well as the negligence, carelessness, and recklessness of the defendants, Michael Pahira Jr., the estate of Michael Pahira Jr., the plaintiff, and the decedent‘s family, have suffered and will continue to suffer, substantial, economic, and non-economic injuries, damages and losses, including, but not limited to funeral and burial expenses; costs of estate administration; profound, psychological and emotional loss; pre-death fright and fear of impending death; conscious pain and suffering; loss of the comfort, care, and society of Michael Pahira Jr.; and other such injuries, damages and losses described more fully herein and compensable at law under the Wrongful Death Act and the Survival Act,” the suit states.

The suit contends SNK knew or should have known that Augustin had an “unsafe history of performing services in the two years leading up to the crash.”

The violations include drivers using a cellphone while driving, lane restriction violations, speeding and failing to obey a traffic control device, log falsification and 144 maintenance violation points in just over a year.

The suit also contends Bon was driving while fatigued, and wasn’t qualified or lacked the training he needed.

The suit lists the following counts: two of negligence/recklessness; two counts of negligent and/or reckless hiring/supervision/retention/selection; wrongful death; and survival action (claiming benefits of the Survival Act).

The crash happened at 7:01 a.m. July 1 as Trooper Pahira stood next to the cab of a truck he had pulled off the highway to inspect near Exit 119 in Butler Township.

According to police, Bon’s truck veered off the road, hitting the side mirror of Pahira’s state police inspection truck, which was parked behind the truck he had pulled off the road and had its emergency lights flashing.

Bon’s rig slammed into the rear of the truck and hit Pahira, dragging him under the cab, which caught fire.

A passing truck driver saw Pahira under the cab and pulled over and called 911. He tried to approach the trapped trooper, but the heat drove him back.

The driver saw Bon get out of the cab, not wearing shoes, then go back in and get his shoes. Bon, the driver testified at an Aug. 26 preliminary hearing, looked as though he had just awakened.

Three men at a nearby construction site saw the smoke and ran to help, eventually succeeding in pulling Pahira out and moving him to safety despite two explosions. However, the trooper had no pulse and was not breathing.

Bon was charged with vehicular homicide, involuntary manslaughter, recklessly endangering in other person, obedience to traffic control device, careless driving, aggravated assault by vehicle, reckless driving and other offenses.

He remains in Schuylkill County Prison under $700,000 bail. The federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which says Bon is in the United States illegally, has placed a retainer on him.

District Judge Edward Tarantelli found sufficient evidence after an Aug. 26 preliminary hearing to send all of the charges on to Schuylkill County court.

Bon, who does not speak English, used an interpreter to listen to testimony at that hearing.