As he prepares for his senior year at New Prairie High School, Lucas Bradshaw is working toward getting back on the pitcher’s mound for a ball game.
The 17-year-old Indiana resident is no stranger to a ball field, but injuries from a May 8, 2025, crash kept him from playing this past season. He’s hoping the upcoming school year will be different.
“It’s his goal,” Lucas’ father and assistant coach, Bradley Bradshaw, said. “We’re not going to tell him he can’t. We’re just going to keep helping him.”
As the family, who farms about 1,700 acres in LaPorte County, continues to deal with the aftermath from that tragic crash that left Lucas in a coma for 54 days and in the hospital for 125 days, they also seek accountability from those those they say are responsible for the crash that sent a box truck careening into the minibus Lucas and his father were riding in that May afternoon.
“I don’t want anyone else to go through what we had to go through,” Bradley Bradshaw said.
Attorneys for the family recently filed a 13-count lawsuit naming Amazon, Elite Courier, Enterprise Leasing Company, St. Joseph County and the driver of the box truck, Shawn Akison, as defendants. Akison was contracted through Elite Courier, a trucking company based in Minooka, and hauled loads from Amazon hubs, according to police reports.
In an emailed statement, a representative for Amazon declined to comment about the lawsuit.
“This was a tragedy, and our hearts are with the families affected as they recover and the entire LaPorte County community,” the statement read. “Given this is active litigation we have no further comment.”
The Bradshaw family is the third to file a lawsuit related to the crash.
In March, Akison pleaded guilty to one count each of causing catastrophic injury when operating a motor vehicle while under the influence and causing serious bodily injury while operating a motor vehicle under the influence. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison, but three of those will be served as probation.
Court records show his box truck was traveling at about 73 mph when it smashed into the rear of the minibus carrying the Bradshaws and other members of the junior varsity baseball team. The truck also hit a second minibus carrying another coach and other members of the team.
The impact of the crash sent the minibus carrying the Bradshaws onto its side. Lucas Bradshaw was ejected 75 feet from the minibus, according to the lawsuit.
According to police reports, Akison told officers on the scene that he had little sleep the day of the crash — waking up at 1:30 a.m. to pick up his first load in Channahon, Illinois, and drive to South Bend, Indiana. Akison was driving back to the Chicago area from Indiana when the crash occurred around 3:15 p.m. He also told officers he was looking at his Amazon Relay app on his phone moments before the crash.
According to the lawsuit, Akison was under the influence of fentanyl at the time of the crash. Police reports also show he told officers he had taken hydrocodone pills the day before the crash.
Attorneys for the Bradshaw family argue Akison’s actions that day were not the first time he had run-ins with law enforcement over his driving. In January of 2025, Akison was pulled over for erratic driving, according to the lawsuit. In that incident, officers found heroin in the box truck he was driving, the complaint states. A check of his driving record shows other violations and license suspensions spanning several years and multiple counties, including Will and Cook.
“A reasonable background check revealed pages and pages of driving violations,” said Nick Kamenjarin, a partner at Lane Brown, a Chicago law firm representing the family. “This isn’t a case of one missed red flag. We’re talking about almost two decades of driving violations.”
In the other lawsuits filed, Amazon has argued that Akison was not an employee of Amazon, attorneys for the Bradshaw family said. However, Amazon contracted with Elite Courier and provided Akison with a mobile app the company uses with drivers to assign routes, pickups and keep track of where drivers are heading. The company also requires contracted drivers to fill out applications and undergo a background check, the lawsuit states.
“When something happens they say oh, ‘he’s not our driver’ or ‘we’re not responsible,’” attorney Scott Lane said. “It’s a game that Amazon is playing across the country. It’s a game that has to stop.”
Lane pointed to Akison’s statement at his sentencing saying even Akison thought of himself as an Amazon driver.
“I should have never been behind the wheel,” Akison said at his sentencing as he offered to help in any civil suits, according to court transcripts. “I was past my hours for driving. I take full responsibility for what I did, but I do think that Amazon had a part in that.”
The family also is suing St. Joseph County, arguing an officer in St. Joseph County attempted to stop Akison after receiving calls of his erratic driving but ended his pursuit of Akison when he reached the county line. Officials in LaPorte County, where the accident occurred, were never notified by St. Joseph County that Akison had crossed into their county or that his driving presented a threat, according to the lawsuit.
The sheriff in St. Joseph County could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
For Bradley Bradshaw, the May 2025 accident is still fresh. Every time he looks in his rearview mirror he sees the box truck barreling toward the minibus and remembers hollering to the boys that they were about to get hit.
Lucas continues to go to physical, speech and vision therapy sessions. When school resumes this fall, he will be back in the building but on a modified schedule to accommodate his therapy sessions.
The family is getting back to farming this season. Last year, the community rallied around them with friends and family taking over farming duties so Bradley and his wife, Kelly, could be with their son. Lucas, who had been planting corn on the farm for the past few years, got back to his duties, with some supervision, this growing season.
Although Lucas had once hoped to farm with his dad and younger brother, the aftermath of the accident is playing a role in changing those plans, Kelly said. Now, he is looking into drones and their applications in farming, such as for spraying fertilizer.
She and Bradley said they are grateful for all who have stepped up to help out or offered support over the past year.
“In the grand scheme of things, we’re very blessed,” Bradley Bradshaw said. “We can’t go back to that day, so we just have to move forward.”
