CHICAGO, IL, July 16, 2026 /24-7PressRelease/ -- A lawsuit filed on behalf of a LaPorte, Indiana, family alleges Amazon approved, and continued authorizing, a commercial truck driver to haul its freight despite an extensive history of driving violations, license suspensions and substance abuse who later crashed into a school bus while under the influence of fentanyl, catastrophically injuring a 16-year-old student.

The 13-count complaint filed July 15 by Lane Brown, LLC, alleges Amazon failed to conduct an adequate background investigation into the driver's safety history, failed to properly monitor his continued fitness after authorizing him to haul Amazon freight, and failed to remove him from service after he was arrested for heroin possession while driving a box truck for Amazon approximately four months before the crash.

According to the lawsuit, Amazon driver Shawn Akison, of Will County, Illinois, was impaired by fentanyl, had just looked at an Amazon application on his cellphone, and was traveling about 75 mph in a 45-mph zone when he slammed into the rear of a school bus carrying members of a high school junior varsity baseball team on May 8, 2025, on U.S. Highway 20 in La Porte County, Indiana. The impact caused the bus to overturn.

The lawsuit states that 16-year-old Lucas Bradshaw was ejected approximately 75 feet from the bus and suffered catastrophic injuries, including a Grade III diffuse axonal injury, the most severe form of traumatic brain injury, multiple brain hemorrhages, facial fractures and a broken arm. His father, Bradley Bradshaw, who was driving the school bus, also suffered serious injuries.

Lucas underwent emergency brain surgery, remained in a coma for 54 days and spent 125 days hospitalized and in intensive rehabilitation. He continues to live with permanent brain injuries, including significant cognitive impairment, memory loss, vision loss, left-sided weakness and impaired mobility.

"Lucas' family is grateful he survived because, for weeks, his condition was uncertain," said the family's attorney, Scott Lane, a partner at Lane Brown. "But his life has been permanently changed. He requires ongoing therapy and has been unable to return to high school or many of the activities he once enjoyed, including playing baseball, driving and working on his family's farm. His family faces hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills, and Lucas will require extensive care for years to come."

Akison pleaded guilty to causing catastrophic injury while operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs and was sentenced to eight years in the Indiana Department of Correction, where he remains incarcerated.

According to the complaint, Akison previously lost his own trucking business after losing his commercial driver's license. At the time of the crash, he was employed by Elite Courier Inc., a Will County trucking company that exclusively hauled freight for Amazon. Elite Courier is also named as a defendant.

The lawsuit alleges Amazon exercises substantial control over the drivers like Akison who transport its freight. According to the complaint, the company independently screens, approves and monitors drivers and retains the authority to remove both drivers and carriers based on its own safety and background-check standards.

The complaint alleges Akison accumulated nearly two decades of driving offenses, license suspensions and substance abuse-related incidents in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana that should have disqualified him from hauling Amazon freight.

According to the lawsuit, Indiana State Police arrested Akison on Jan. 23, 2025, after receiving multiple 911 reports that he was driving a commercial truck erratically on Interstate 65 while returning from hauling an Amazon load. Troopers reported signs of impairment, and a narcotics-detection canine alerted officers to a substance that field-tested positive for heroin. Akison was arrested and charged with Level 6 felony possession of a narcotic drug.

"This isn't a case of one missed red flag," said Nick Kamenjarin, a partner at Lane Brown. "Amazon approved a driver with years of driving violations, license suspensions, and other serious warning signs to haul its freight. Then, after that same driver was arrested for felony drug possession after driving a commercial box truck erratically while returning from an Amazon delivery, Amazon continued authorizing him to transport its freight. Amazon has built the nation's largest package delivery network and created a logistics system that moves billions of packages. It decides who can haul its freight, monitors those drivers, decides who gets to continue hauling its freight, and profits from that system. With that level of control should come responsibility when preventable failures lead to catastrophic injuries."

The complaint also alleges St. Joseph County law enforcement officers observed Akison driving recklessly before the crash and initiated a pursuit but terminated it at the county line without notifying authorities in neighboring LaPorte County of the ongoing danger.

"Our son is the one who will live with the consequences of this for the rest of his life," said Bradley Bradshaw. "No parent should ever have to watch their child fight for his life and suffer so much, knowing it never should have happened. There were warning signs that should never have been ignored, and the driver never should have been behind the wheel of a commercial truck. We can't change what happened to Lucas, but we hope this lawsuit brings accountability and helps ensure no other family has to endure the pain and heartbreak we live with every day."

Lane Brown, LLC is a Chicago-based personal injury law firm that has represented individuals and families harmed by negligence for more than 35 years. Founded by a team of veteran trial attorneys, the firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements on behalf of its clients, including a case recognized by Crain's Chicago Business as one of the year's most significant settlements. Lane Brown represents plaintiffs exclusively and is committed to holding negligent individuals, corporations and insurance companies accountable while pursuing justice for those who have suffered serious injuries or wrongful death.

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