Lawsuit filed by protester who said they were struck by car on Veterans Bridge

A Hazelwood resident who was struck by a car on the Veterans Bridge in Pittsburgh last year during a peaceful march protesting the police killing of George Floyd is suing the driver that struck them.

Victoria “Vic” Costikyan, 29, filed the complaint against Dylan Dietrich, listed as being from Jefferson Hills, on Thursday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.

Attempts to reach Dietrich for comment were unsuccessful.

Attorney Timothy P. O’Brien, who represents Costikyan, said his client suffered permanent injuries that impair their ability to walk and cause substantial pain. The lawsuit characterizes those injuries as “multiple tibial/fibular and cartilage factors.”

According to the complaint, Costikyan was with several people who also were part of the protest at about 5 p.m. on May 30, 2020, walking outbound on the Veterans Bridge at or near the intersection with the Route 28 northbound exit ramp.

The protesters had been channeled there by Pittsburgh police officers to move them away from Downtown, the complaint said.

As Costikyan was walking, the lawsuit said that another pedestrian was struck by a vehicle, which did not stop.

“Several of the other pedestrians — including the plaintiff — who, as directed by the police, were then and there walking on the northbound exit ramp, succeeded in stopping the ‘hit and run’ vehicle by standing in front and alongside of the vehicle,” the complaint said.

Costikyan was standing to the right front of the vehicle, facing it, when it “suddenly accelerated striking the plaintiff and causing plaintiff to violently strike the paved surface of the roadway,” the lawsuit said.

Dietrich was identified as the driver. No charges were filed against him.

The lawsuit includes allegations of negligence and gross negligence for operating the vehicle at an unsafe speed; not paying attention to the road in front of the vehicle and failing to have proper control while approaching pedestrians.