About $6 million awarded
The father of a 16-year-old Chicora boy killed in 2015 in an alcohol-fueled ATV accident says he hopes a multimillion-dollar civil judgment against the man accused of providing the alcohol serves as “a lesson” to other adults.
Charles Buck, the father of Briggs Buck, who was killed the night of Feb. 27, 2015, said the $5.923 million judgment entered Thursday against Steven Rider Jr., 35, formerly of Parker Township, was “symbolic” for him and Briggs' mother, Kimberly.
“We will never see a dime of this,” said Charles Buck. “And it's never, ever been about the money. It's more a punishment that we wanted to continue and try to get more justice.”
Butler County Judge Marilyn Horan on Thursday ordered Rider — who pleaded guilty Jan. 19, 2017 to two counts of recklessly endangering another person and one count of corruption of minors stemming from Briggs' death — to pay the Buck family nearly $3 million in lost wages, $2.5 million in “punitive damages” and nearly $1 million in other assorted damages.
The judgment marks the end of more than a year of legal wrangling in the wrongful death lawsuit, which the family filed on March 6, 2017.
It names Rider; Elijah Myers, Briggs' friend, who was driving the ATV when Briggs was killed; Elijah's parents, Shayne and Danielle Myers; and Karissa Morrow, a Karns City woman who was never charged in relation to the case, as defendants. Horan's judgment Thursday only dealt with Rider's culpability in Briggs' death.
Briggs, a sophomore at Karns City High School who was a weightlifter and member of the school's varsity football and track teams, was riding on the back of an ATV driven by Elijah Myers on the night of Feb. 27, 2015, when the vehicle crashed at Butternut and Spruce roads.
Police say Rider, who is Elijah's uncle, had given both boys alcohol earlier in the evening. They were supposed to help him with construction work the following day.
Rider, who had been following the boys in a pickup truck, and Elijah, drove away following the crash.
Briggs was left along the road. He died at the scene.
Charles Buck said it was that conduct — leaving his son by the side of the road “like a bag of garbage” — as well as dissatisfaction with the resolution of the criminal case against Rider that moved the Bucks to file the lawsuit.
“I'm not satisfied with the sentencing and the plea bargain,” he said Friday. “I wanted it to go to trial. He got off with a lighter sentence than I feel he should have had.”
Rider, who was initially charged with involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of children in addition to the charges to which he pleaded guilty, was sentenced Feb. 22, 2017, to 2½ to 8 years in prison.
He is an inmate at the State Correctional Institution in Mercer County. Online records did not list an attorney for Rider and he could not be reached Friday.Court records indicate Rider represented himself in the Buck's lawsuit, and did not “participate in any way,” in the litigation,Charles Buck, who called his son “a great kid” who is still remembered as a generous friend who transcended social cliques, said he wants the civil judgment to “haunt” Rider “for the rest of his life.”“At least this will be held over his head,” Buck said. “I hope the guy can never even get a Sheetz card.”
