Crossing guard struck outside Catawba Ridge High sues school district, SCDOT and driver
A Fort Mill crossing guard who was seriously injured while directing traffic outside Catawba Ridge High School in 2024 has sued the Fort Mill School District, the South Carolina Department of Transportation and the driver she says caused the wreck.
Leslie Richardson, a York County resident, filed the complaint Sept. 17 in the York County Court of Common Pleas, Sixteenth Judicial Circuit, case number 2026CP4603376. She is represented by Kyle J. White and Drew Bradshaw of the White, Davis and White Law Firm in Anderson, and she has demanded a jury trial.
The case asks a York County jury to decide whether a school district and a state agency share responsibility for where a crossing guard was posted on Fort Mill Parkway, one of the busiest school corridors in the county. It comes two months after the district agreed to pay $200,000 to settle a claim brought by the family of a Fort Mill crossing guard killed in 2024.
What the complaint alleges
According to the filing, Richardson was working at about 8 a.m. on Oct. 15, 2024, at a spot on Fort Mill Parkway selected by the school district, near the Catawba Ridge campus at 1180 Fort Mill Parkway. The complaint alleges that Nathan R. Pigford of Fort Mill was driving east at a high rate of speed, struck the back of a vehicle stopped by driver Ryan Fleming, and pushed that vehicle forward into Richardson.
The complaint accuses Pigford of reckless driving, excessive speed, failing to obey traffic control devices and failing to yield to a crossing guard, and it seeks punitive damages from him. Against the district and SCDOT, it alleges gross negligence for selecting and allowing an unsafe crossing location, failing to correct known hazards and failing to warn.
Richardson was employed by Everything Parking Inc., which does business as Cross Safe, under a crossing guard services agreement with the district. The complaint says the district chose the locations where Cross Safe guards were posted. Cross Safe is not a defendant.
A pattern the suit says was known
The filing claims Richardson was the fourth crossing guard struck by traffic within the district in the six years before her injury.
Seven months before Richardson was hurt, crossing guard Stanley Brucker was struck while working the entrance to Fort Mill Elementary School on Springfield Parkway on March 21, 2024. According to the York County Coroner’s Office, Brucker was taken to a hospital, where he died of his injuries. The district agreed in July to pay his family $200,000 to settle the resulting claim. Terms of that agreement, including whether it carried any admission of liability, were not released. Richardson’s complaint cites the Brucker death as evidence the district was on notice.
The suit also states that the district adopted a resolution in April 2024 asking SCDOT to lower school speed zones districtwide and to add signals, signage and other safety measures. SCDOT installed limited additional signage and cleared brush but took no other action, according to the complaint.
What comes next
The complaint does not name a dollar figure, but it avers damages above $100,000 and argues that at least four separate occurrences under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act would allow recovery above $1 million from the government defendants even if liability caps apply. It asks the jury to determine the number of occurrences.
The defendants have 30 days from service to file an answer.
Sources: Summons and complaint, Richardson v. South Carolina Department of Transportation, Fort Mill School District 4 and Nathan R. Pigford, case number 2026CP4603376, filed Sept. 17, 2026, York County Court of Common Pleas. Tega Cay Sun, “Fort Mill School District Settles Lawsuit Over Crossing Guard’s Death,” July 16, 2026.
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Thomas Hyslip lives in Tega Cay with his wife and daughter. After 27 years in the U.S. Army and Federal Law Enforcement, he retired to pursue his passion for teaching. Tom is now an Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of South Florida. In 2 short years he has won 10 awards from the South Carolina Press Association, including first place in column writing, education beat reporting and best podcast.
