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Jury awards $5.1 million in student’s death ATLANTA (AP) — A DeKalb County jury has awarded $5.1 million to the family of a man who died after falling from a county trash truck while performing court-ordered community service. Vince Currid died Oct. 22, 1999, about a month after he hit his head in a fall from the truck. He was a senior at Emory University who had been placed on probation and ordered to do community service for drunk driving. A jury returned the damage award against the county on Monday after a six-day trial in DeKalb State Court. The wrongful death lawsuit was filed by Currid’s brother and father. Jurors considered the family’s medical expenses, pain and suffering and the value of Currid’s lost life in setting the amount. DeKalb County plans to appeal the verdict, spokeswoman Kristie Swink said Tuesday. DeKalb officials stopped putting probationers on the trucks shortly after the 1999 accident. ‘‘We feel very good about the verdict because we think we’ve finally gotten justice for my son,’’ said Howard Currid, of New Jersey. Currid said Tuesday that his son received no training or proper equipment and was placed on the back of the truck, where no one was supposed to stand if the truck’s speed exceeded 10 mph. The family claimed the truck was going faster than that when he lost his grip. Currid said he is considering starting a foundation in Vince’s name. The foundation likely would fund scholarships and research into the type of blood clot that killed Currid, his father said.
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