The state of California filed suit against Dick Simon Trucking to recover damages to the state Capitol building when it was rammed in an apparent suicide run by a Dick Simon driver in January.

The suit seeks $13.5 million in actual damages and $100 million in punitive damages. The state alleges that the trucking company hired Mike Bowers despite knowing he had emotional problems.
On Jan. 16, Bowers circled the state Capitol several times before taking aim directly for one of the entrances. The truck careered through the yard and up the marble steps at an estimated 50 mph before crashing through a wall of the historic building and bursting into flames. It was later discovered that Bowers had a history of mental illness and a criminal record. (See "More Details Emerge About Driver In Calif. Capitol Crash," 1/18/01.) Repairs to the building are still ongoing.
The lawsuit claims the trucking company "purposely and consciously lowered its own hiring standards and disregarded information that would have either required [it] to reject Bowers for employment or at least conduct further investigation into Bowers' suitability to drive such a truck."
A spokesman for the attorney general's office told the Associated Press that his office was "receiving a lot of resistance" to pay for the damage.