The father of a Boulder High School graduate killed this summer in a motorcycle accident is suing Crist Mortuary for negligence, saying funeral home employees dropped his son’s casket and let the body roll onto the ground.

A wake and open casket viewing for Alex Maldonado, 20, were held at Crist Mortuary, 3395 Penrose Place, on July 7, three days after he was killed in a crash at the intersection of 28th Street and Iris Avenue in north Boulder. A funeral for Maldonado was at Rocky Mountain Christian Church in Niwot on July 8.

Crist was to transport the casket back to the funeral home for another viewing after the July 8 service, and Maldonado’s father, Phillip Maldonado, asked to ride in the hearse because he had promised his son that “he would never leave him alone and would always be by his side,” according to the lawsuit filed Friday in Boulder County District Court.

On the ride there, the hearse driver entered the Diagonal Highway going the wrong direction, “barely escaping oncoming traffic,” and didn’t pull over until Phillip Maldonado screamed, according to the lawsuit. After that, the driver began speeding toward a red light and slid to a stop only after Phillip Maldonado screamed again, the lawsuit said.

“To make matters worse, this was the same road that Mr. Maldonado’s son, Alex, was killed when a driver ran a red light only four days earlier,” the lawsuit said. “Crist and its driver employee was aware of the manner, cause and location of Alex’s death, yet drove the hearse with both Mr. Maldonado and Alex’s body in an egregiously insensitive, reckless, negligent and dangerous manner.”

When they arrived at the funeral home, the driver and another employee tried to unload the casket from the hearse.

“With Mr. Maldonado watching, one or more of the handlers let go of the casket and dropped it,” according to the lawsuit. “The casket went crashing to the cement ground, its lid opened suddenly, and Alex’s body tumbled out and fell directly onto its face directly in front of Mr. Maldonado.”

The employees ran into the funeral home without saying anything to Phillip Maldonado and leaving him there with the body, the lawsuit said. Eventually, Crist employees came outside and put Alex Maldonado back into the casket.

The drop caused some body fluids to stain Alex Maldonado’s shirt and the lid of the casket, which was “visible for the remainder of the open casket viewing,” according to the lawsuit.

His father was experiencing “intense mourning and grief” and wanted “only to peacefully say goodbye to his child,” the lawsuit said. As a result of the incidents and because of the “unimaginable sight of his son lying on the concrete spilling bodily fluids,” Phillip Maldonado said he’s had problems sleeping, has had “horrific” nightmares and has become depressed.

Crist Mortuary didn’t return a call from the Camera on Tuesday.

Alex Maldonado collided with a car in north Boulder on July 4. Ricardo Mena, 29, was charged with careless driving causing death and a driver’s license violation in connection with the collision. Mena has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for a pre-trial conference Nov. 2.

Alex Maldonado graduated from Boulder High and is remembered for being a skilled athlete, playing tennis and baseball for the school and snowboarding whenever he could.