FAIRFIELD, CT — Amanda Hanlon, one of the Sacred Heart University students injured in a Sept. 29 crash near the school, has sued the university, and the fellow student who Fairfield police have arrested for allegedly causing the collision.
Six people were injured in the two-vehicle crash just after midnight, in which student Tyler Delk, of South Orange, New Jersey, crashed a 2018 Audi convertible into a 2021 Toyota sedan that was being driven as an Uber vehicle. Delk was the only occupant in his car, while five people were in the Uber — the driver, Hanlon and three other students.
Hanlon and fellow students Liv Graham, Olivia Marini and Cayna Mangine, and Uber driver Otto Bailon Quimis, were all seriously injured in the Jefferson Street crash near the Sacred Heart campus, and Delk was critically injured.
Find out what's happening in Fairfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Fairfield police charged Delk with:
According to Lt. Michael Paris, an investigation determined that Delk, who was 19 at the time, was driving in excess of 85 mph, and had a blood alcohol content ten-times above the legal limit of .02 percent.
Click Here: Ireland Cricket Jerseys
Find out what's happening in Fairfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Hanlon’s lawsuit says that she “suffered injuries of a serious, painful and permanent nature in that she sustained a cerebral concussion with certain cognitive impairments, headaches and photophobia,” in addition to other scalp, facial, oral, spinal and internal injuries.
Patch reached out to attorney James Gaston, who represents Hanlon, for comment on the lawsuit, but did not immediately receive a reply.
Sacred Heart declined to comment.
“The University is unable to comment about ongoing litigation,” said Deb Noack, Executive Director of Communications for the university.
The lawsuit claims that her injuries and the crash were caused by Delk’s “reckless disregard in the operation of the motor vehicle” while he was under the influence of alcohol.
Sacred Heart was negligent and careless in connection with the crash, because the school “failed to properly monitor underage use of alcohol on campus; proper security to prevent the drinking of alcohol by underage students on the campus; in that it failed to have proper security on so as to prevent inebriated persons, including underage students and underage student drivers on campus,” among other related claims.
She is seeking unspecified monetary damages.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.