$5.97 Million Settlement for Family After Fatal Head-On Crash With Ice Cream Truck in Osage County

On the morning of January 21, 2022, Kale Durr was driving a 17-foot Ford E450 cargo box truck for Ice Cream Factory LLC, heading west on U.S. Route 50 near Route N in Osage County, Missouri. Traffic slowed him behind a tractor-trailer. On a blind right-hand curve marked as a no-passing zone, the 22 year old steered into the oncoming lane to get around the larger truck.

He could not see what was coming. The box truck crossed the center line and struck a 1997 Chevrolet Silverado head-on. The pickup belonged to Zachary Patchin, 28, of Barnhart. After the impact, Durr's truck ran off the south side of the road and overturned, and Patchin's pickup caught fire and burned. Both drivers were pronounced dead at the scene.

Patchin was an expectant father when he died. His daughter was born after the crash and will grow up never having met him. In February 2022, a few weeks after the collision, his family went to court. His mother, Tina Adams, and his father, Michael Patchin, brought wrongful-death claims, joined by a separate claim on behalf of his infant daughter.

Richard Zalasky and Kristine Bridges of Brown & Crouppen represented Patchin's mother and his infant daughter, while Thomas Neill of Gray Ritter & Graham represented his father. The lawsuit named Ice Cream Factory LLC together with the estate of the driver who caused the crash. The central claim was negligent entrustment. The family alleged the company put Durr behind the wheel of the E450 without confirming that he held the Class E license Missouri requires to operate a truck that size, and without training him to handle a heavy delivery vehicle on a rural highway. By the plaintiffs' account, there was little resistance over liability once those facts came out.

The case resolved through settlements approved in Franklin County Circuit Court under case number 22AB-CC00068. Court approval was needed because part of the recovery belonged to a minor. Together the settlements totaled $5.97 million. The court directed the largest portion, roughly $3 million, to Patchin's young daughter, with about $1.5 million each going to his mother and his father. The defense was backed by Travelers Casualty Insurance Company of America.