"The Bachelor" contestant suing Lee's Summit man for negligence

A contestant on the reality show “The Bachelor” is suing a Lee’s Summit man for allegedly running her off the road, causing the car to roll multiple times that resulted in her injuries.

Shannon L. Bair, 29, has accused the man of negligence, claiming he was careless and reckless that produced what happened to her in June on U.S. 50 in Lee’s Summit.

The man being sued is 39-year-old William M. Faust.

Bair, who also lives in Lee’s Summit, was a contestant on the most recent edition of “The Bachelor,” a reality television dating game show on ABC. Bair was dumped from the show by the bachelor.

On June 5, Bair was driving on U.S. 50 around 4:43 p.m. She was driving a silver 2009 Mazda MZ3.

Bair and Faust have differing opinions about what happened that day, according to a Lee’s Summit police report that detailed the wreck. She claims road rage. He claims accident.

Bair was at the intersection Milton Thompson Road and U.S. 50. She claims that Faust’s Toyota truck pulled out in front of her as she was in the left lane. This caused her to lock up the brakes to prevent colliding with him, according to the police report.

Bair moved to the right lane, trying to pass the truck to get away from it.

Bair saw two white men in the truck. She said they were laughing and “trying to get her to race” because they kept speeding up and slowing down, according to the report. The driver, later identified as Faust, played “cat and mouse” with her vehicle and his truck, according to court documents.

The truck swerved at her when the Mazda got beside the truck. This caused her to lose control of the car. She darted off the road, became airborne and rolled numerous times, according to court documents.

Bair suffered broken ribs and extensive bruising, according to Aaron W. Smith, Bair’s attorney.

She has incurred “significant” medical bills and has lost wages from work, according to court documents. She’s seeking an undisclosed amount in damages.

Smith said about the incident: “You don’t hear about road incidents that often. When you do hear about incidents they usually consist of people flipping each other off or getting in an argument or fight.

“Usually they don’t get to the point where someone flips their car several times and is injured. There’s a lot of damage, not only physical property damage but in medical bills and personal injury and psychologically what this does to a person when they go through something like this. This wasn’t something that she just bounced back from the next day. This was months and months before she was finally starting to get back around. These injuries will be around for the rest of her life.”

Faust told police officers a different story.

He pulled out onto the highway when Bair’s car was in the right lane. When he pulled into the left lane, she must have changed lanes because she was directly on his bumper, according to the police report.

Faust said she was “practically driving under my truck,” according to the report. He sped up to 70 mph and she sped up also to stay with him. Bair moved into the right lane and got side by side him. Faust continued driving and did not see the vehicle again, unaware that the vehicle had even crashed, according to the report.

Both Faust and the passenger were cooperative with police, filling out written statements and willing to do polygraph or drug or alcohol testing, according to the report, which were not done at the discretion of the investigating officer. Faust’s passenger corroborated Faust’s account of the accident.

Another witness who saw the accident from his rearview mirror told officers the truck pulled off of Milton Thompson Road directly in the path of Bair. Faust would not let Bair pass him and when she got beside him, with speeds around 70 or 80 mph, the truck swerved toward her, resulting in the crash, according to the report.

Bair declined to comment to The Examiner about what happened.

Faust also declined to comment, referring all questions to his attorney.

Lee’s Summit City Prosecutor Rachel Townsend Brown charged Faust with simple assault five days after the incident. The charge was a city ordinance violation.

Townsend Brown dismissed the violation on Aug. 12. She could not say why she dismissed the charge because it’s a closed file.

Smith added: “It makes me wonder individually like what could compel someone to take this huge truck... and swerve it at another person in a car. It’s unbelievable to me.”

What’s also unbelievable to Smith is the decision of Townsend Brown to not prosecute Faust. So instead, they’re letting a jury decide.

“The thing I think is appropriate is we let a Jackson County jury know the facts of the case.”

Smith said Bair’s reality star status did not lead to the incident. “I think it was random. I don’t know how these two would have know each other or met before.”