An Anne Arundel jury awarded $1.95 million to a Baltimore truck driver who was struck by a cement mixer on Route 295 in April 2005 and watched as the same truck killed his friend.

Richard Schulman, 49, of Halethorpe, and Schulman’s former employer, Lafarge Mid-Atlantic LLC, were found liable for injuries to Robert Howard after a five-day trial before Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Ronald Silkworth.

Howard, 56, had been repairing his disabled Goodwill Industries tractor trailer on the highway shoulder along with co-worker Errol Johnson, 44, when Schulman’s truck hit them, killing Johnson and breaking Howard’s arm, hip and foot on the left side of his body.

“Mr. Howard suffered a great deal of emotional distress as a result of seeing his friend and co-worker die. It was a very gory situation,” said Howard’s attorney, Alan Belsky. “The injuries were very, very serious and the emotional damage that this man suffered was severe.”

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Howard spent more than a week recovering at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore City. His arm was reconstructed with metal plates, and he cannot fully extend it, Belsky said.

The verdict is expected to be reduced to the mandatory state law cap of $650,000 plus Howard’s $66,000 in medical bills and $24,000 in lost wages.

“It’s very disappointing that such minimal thought was given to a great deal of evidence,” defense attorney Joseph Zauner III said. The jury allowed “sympathies and prejudices to play a part that they shouldn’t have,” he said.

Schulman, 49, who has multiple drug and theft convictions, said he didn’t know he hit anyone when he fled the scene, cutting across three lanes of traffic and driving the opposite direction down 295.

A manhunt ensued and police recovered the truck with Johnson’s blood on it at the Lafarge Jessup facility. Witnesses identified Schulman as the driver. He later pleaded guilty to negligent driving. He received one point on his license, Zauner said.

cpeirce@baltimoreexaminer.com