A Flagler County jury has ordered TDC Transportation Inc. and a co-defendant to pay Jacksonville driver Jo’Relle Deleston $8.64 million for a 2022 Interstate 95 crash that flipped his pickup, broke his neck and left him with lasting, serious injuries. The wreck happened Oct. 5, 2022, about a mile south of the Palm Coast exit on I-95, and attorneys say it cost Deleston his job and reshaped daily life for him and his family. The decision comes three and a half years after the crash.
Crash and verdict
At trial, the plaintiffs’ team played dashcam video that, as reported by News4JAX, shows another truck passing Deleston, drifting off the road, then slamming back into his vehicle and flipping it several times. According to the outlet, jurors in Flagler County returned an $8.64 million verdict on Tuesday against the truck’s driver and TDC Transportation Inc., with photos and X-rays spread across a Jacksonville law firm’s conference table as part of trial coverage. The dashcam footage also captures strangers stopping their cars, sprinting across the interstate and rushing to help Deleston in the chaotic moments after the rollover.
Injuries and attorney remarks
Deleston’s attorneys told jurors he suffered a broken neck along with multiple other injuries and has struggled to work since the crash, according to trial coverage. “That is the last time in Jo’Relle’s life he would ever be normal again,” attorney Curry Pajcic told News4JAX, adding that watching the crash video can trigger Deleston’s PTSD from his six years in the Army. Deleston, who has a wife and three boys, said he works to “block it out and move forward,” focusing on his recovery and his role at home.
Why it matters
Large jury awards in trucking cases have been blamed for driving up insurance premiums and fueling a national debate over so-called “nuclear verdicts,” a trend outlined in a report by Marathon Strategies. State crash data highlight why local stakes feel high: recent Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles crash facts show Flagler County logs multiple injury crashes and other serious collisions each year. For plaintiffs’ lawyers, the Deleston verdict reinforces their message that carriers and insurers can be held financially accountable when catastrophic crashes happen.
What’s next
It was not immediately known whether TDC Transportation or the individual driver plans to file post-trial motions or appeal. Any future notices or filings tied to the verdict would appear in the Flagler County Clerk’s public records at the Kim C. Hammond Justice Center in Bunnell, which maintains circuit civil dockets through Flagler Clerk.
