According to VALawyersWeekly.com, In March of 2010 85 year old Robert B. Adams noticed fluid leaking from his pickup truck and decided to take it to Pete's Auto Service Inc., a family owned repair shop he had gone to for years.

Mr. Adams was told by the owner, Lynne Walker, that his transmission would need to be removed in order to make the repairs.  The pickup was in the shop for only a few days. 

About 10 days later Mr. Adams working at his farm, in Hillsville in Southwest Virginia, went to retrieve a can of diesel fuel from his pickup truck. His driveway was undergoing maintenance at the time, so his truck was parked on a shallow incline.  When Mr. Adams removed the can from the back of the truck, it rolled over him.  Mr. Adams died a few days later.

According to one of the Attorneys handling the case, John E. Zydron, Mr. Adams "was in excellent health" and was also the caregiver for his wife who was in poor health.

Experts found that a part was not replaced when the transmission was repaired, so when the vehicle was placed in parked, there was no link between the break and transmission to keep the vehicle in place.

The case was finally settled last month, reaching a $1 million dollar verdict for the wrongful death claim.