Cutt, Kendell & Olson attorney Eric Olson filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the mother of a teen who drowned while swimming in a pond near the Otter Creek Reservoir in 2016. He was recently interviewed by Fox 13 about the case.
In August 2016, 17-year-old Chase Leroy Clark was sucked into a culvert that draws water from the pond, pulls it under the road into a nearby reservoir. According to the lawsuit, this culvert causes a whirlpool in the pond, and despite extensive efforts to keep the young man from being sucked under, he was unable to escape the strong force of the culvert, and drowned.
The lawsuit alleges that there were no protective gates, fences or signages to warn Chase of the danger or prevent someone from being pulled into the culvert.
Unfortunately, as of this last summer, no changes have been made and it has been about a year since the drowning had occurred," he said. "It was disappointing to see no sign, no grate, no fence put up to tell people not to play in that area, and there is a state park in that area, right down in the area, and the culvert is right next to a road that’s next to ATV users.
Multiple state and federal agencies have been named in the lawsuit, and a jury trail has been requested.