Family of Boy Injured in E-Scooter Crash Sues Penn State, Nittany Lion Football Player

Penn State and a Nittany Lion football player are facing a lawsuit from the family of a 6-year-old boy who was injured when he was struck by an e-scooter on the University Park campus earlier this year.

Shane Richard, the father of the boy, filed the suit on Tuesday against the university and freshman defensive tackle De’Andre Cook, who was operating the scooter.

According to the filing, the boy was walking in a crosswalk on North Burrowes Road at 6:10 p.m. on Feb. 18 when Cook failed to stop the scooter at a stop sign and struck him.

The boy sustained two pelvic fractures, a broken right foot, closed head injury, forehead contusion and scalp laceration, attorney Richard Godshall wrote.

Cook pleaded guilty to summary citations for failing to stop at a stop sign and failing to yield to a pedestrian. He paid $238 in fines.

The lawsuit accuses the university of violating its own policy prohibiting motor-driven devices such as e-scooters that do not meet Pennsylvania Vehicle Code requirements for use on public highways from being operated on campus roads, sidewalks and paths.

Godshall wrote that Penn State allows only student-athletes the option of using e-scooters on campus, a violation of policy he called “special favoritism” that resulted in injuries to the boy.

Richard, of Union County, is seeking in excess of $100,000 for two counts of negligence.