By Kristine Goodrich, Mankato Free Press

MANKATO — The family of a Wells man killed in a crash near Mapleton last year is suing the Mankato company that owned the truck and employed the driver who struck him.

The family of Alan Lucias Remington recently filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Blue Earth County District Court against A.H. Hermel, a vending and food service company on Riverfront Drive.

Remington, 65, was struck by an A.H. Hermel semi at Highway 22 and Highway 30 last March. He died at the scene.

The driver of the semi, Danny Salazar, 27, of North Mankato, had non-life-threatening injuries.

The intersection has a two-way stop sign. Salazar admitted he failed to stop before he collided with Remington’s car, according to the accident report.

Salazar was charged with four misdemeanor driving infractions and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor careless driving. He received a stayed 90-day jail sentence that will be waived if he completes one year of probation.

Salazar isn’t named in the wrongful death suit against his onetime employer.

The lawsuit alleges A.H. Hermel is liable because it knew or should have known that Salazar was unfit to drive a semi. It also alleges the company did not properly maintain its semi.

The complaint does not provide any substantiation for those claims. Attorneys for the Remington family did not respond to a request from the Free Press for more details Monday.

A response written by attorneys for A.H. Hermel admits Salazar did not come to a complete stop before entering the intersection. But, the response denies the claims that Salazar was unfit to drive and the semi wasn’t properly maintained.

The company’s response denies any liability in the crash and asks the judge to dismiss the lawsuit.

“Alan Lucias Remington’s death and the alleged damages resulting therefrom were the result of an incident for which no party bears any legal responsibility,” the response contends.

Attorneys for the company also did not promptly respond to an invitation to comment.