Driver Hurt In Crash That Killed Holy Cross Rower Settles Lawsuit With College, Coach
WORCESTER (CBS) – A driver seriously hurt in a crash that killed a Holy Cross rower early last year has settled a lawsuit with the college and its former coach.
On January 15, 2020, Holy Cross coach Patrick Diggins was driving the women's rowing team in a van in Vero Beach, Florida when police said he drove directly into the path of an oncoming pickup truck at an intersection.
Twenty-year-old rower Grace Rett was killed and several other teammates were severely hurt.
The pickup truck driver, Ronald Wolf, sued Diggins and Holy Cross in July 2020, saying he suffered "severe, catastrophic and permanent injuries to his body" in the crash.
According to a police report, Diggins failed to yield right-of-way to oncoming traffic. The report said that after the crash, he asked officers if he had had a green arrow.
The report said Diggins turned left "while only having a green light indicator and not a green turn arrow." He was cited by police a month after the crash and then retired as coach.
According to court records in West Palm Beach, Florida, Holy Cross and Diggins offered a settlement on February 9. The case was closed and dismissed with prejudice on May 6.
"The Court congratulates the Parties on their amicable resolution of this matter," U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks wrote in the filing.
The amount and terms of the settlement were not revealed. The Worcester Telegram & Gazette, which first reported the settlement, said Wolf and his wife were seeking $75,000 in damages.
