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Archive for News – Page 66

Family Files Lawsuit After Their 18-Year-Old Girl Dies When FIU Bridge Collapsed

Posted by David Brown 
· April 3, 2018 

18-year-old Alex Duran’s family filed a wrongful death complaint against the defendants Munilla Construction Management, Figg Bridge Engineers, and subcontractors involved in the bridge project in Florida.

Alex Duran a student in the Florida International University met her death while driving her Toyota SUV. The bridge collapsed on her SUV vehicle trapping her in the rubble. She was confirmed dead on Friday.

It is questionable how Figg Engineers constructed the bridge with much haste. On a statement by Goldfarb, the constructors hurried in the project. He said that there were no precautions taken by the said constructors as at the time of construction there was still traffic along the road.

Richard Humble, a friend of Duran, escaped death when a slab of concrete hit on Duran’s SUV where she died.

More lawsuits follow as Duran and Richard Humble took to the courts to file a new lawsuit.

Still, the families of Rolando Fraga who did not survive the tragedy; Emily Joy, a college student who escaped a crushed car, and marquise Hepburn who got injured while cycling just near the bridge have pressed lawsuits against the defendants.

Goldfarb, a representative of the plaintiff, mentioned earlier that they have six months and one day before pressing charges. He said that the constructors acted so reckless by putting more effort building the bridge during the college spring break. He also stressed that they optimized on using the spring break which is not long enough to complete the bridge.

FIU retained Munilla Construction Management LLC as the general contractor. The purpose of Munilla was to oversee the building of the bridge project. A statement reported that the contractor lacked skill and experience in ABC techniques.

In an attempt to fulfill its duties, Munilla entered into an agreement with subcontractors who possessed the expertise. The use of ABC technique was to the advantage of the contractors. Reason being structural components can be assembled at the construction site even as traffic flows.

Five days following the placement of the bridge and post-tensioning was underway, cracking and popping sounds could be heard as adjustments were made to the tensioning rods.

A short while afterward the bridge collapsed as a tensioning rod failed. The tragedy claimed several lives and that of the plaintiff – Alex Duran.

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Families of Three Bucks County Murder Victims Sue the Parents of Cosmo Dinardo

Posted by David Brown 
· March 27, 2018 

“In our eyes, Cosmo DiNardo was given a playland for illegal acts,” said Carin O’Donnell, the attorney representing the Patrick family.

On Monday, March 5, exactly eight months after the first of four Bucks County murder victims went missing, the families of three victims filed a wrongful death lawsuit. Their lawyers said DiNardo’s parents and their construction company share the blame with the co-defendants in the criminal trial, Cosmo DiNardo and his cousin Sean Kratz.

The suit alleges that DiNardo’s Parents, in light of his documented mental health issues, should not have given him access to guns, ATVs, or their company’s heavy construction equipment. It delineates how in 2017 Dinardo was involuntarily committed to a mental institution and prohibited from carrying a firearm. An affidavit from his February 2017 charge of illegal possession of a firearm states that DiNardo is “known to be suffering from mental illness.”

Craig Penglase, defense attorney for Kratz, said he was concerned the civil litigation could affect the criminal trial. Fortunato Perri Jr., a defense attorney for DiNardo, could not be reached for comment.

In July 2017, the bodies of Jimi Patrick, 19, of Newtown; Dean Finocchiaro, 18, of Middletown; Thomas Meo, 21, and Mark Sturgis, 22, of Pennsburg, were found on a 90-acre Bucks County farm owned by the DiNardo family. The remains of the four men were found buried 12.5 feet underground in a converted oil tank that had served as a pig roaster.

On March 5, for the first time, family members publicly voiced their grief and remembrances of the three young men. Bonnie Finocchiaro remembered her son as an “awesome person” with a “huge heart.” Melissa Fratanduono-Meo spoke of her son Tom as “bright and funny,” always “a lot of fun.”

In a quivering voice, Sharon Patrick, guardian and grandmother of Jimi Patrick, described her final moments with her grandson. “I said, ‘Are you waiting for me to get up and kiss you goodbye?’ So I stood up and I kissed him goodbye. And I told him I loved him, and he told me he loved me. Then we hugged each other, and I told him, ‘Come home early.’ “He said he would,” she continued, beginning to weep. “That was the last time.”

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Lithium-ion Battery Explodes In Man’s Pocket, Causes Severe Burns. “It was like a flame thrower.”

Posted by David Brown 
· March 22, 2018 

Daniel Anderson of Derby, Kansas, was working at his job in a warehouse on February 9, 2016, when his pocket containing a lithium-ion battery “suddenly and without warning exploded and caught on fire.”

“Nobody thinks twice about putting a battery in their pocket… that’s the first place it’s going to go,” said Mr. Anderson’s lawyer, Dustin DeVaughn.

According to the lawsuit filed by Mr. DeVaughn, his client bought the battery from Big E’s Vapor Shop on February 6, 2016, to use as a backup for his e-cigarette device. He was carrying the battery in his pocket together with car keys and change when the explosion happened.

“It ignites like a bomb,” Mr. DeVaughn said.

The lawsuit states the cause of the explosion was ‘thermal runaway,’ a destructive phenomenon which occurred after “an external short (on the battery) that resulted from contact with metallic objects.” The battery Mr. Anderson bought from Big E’s Vapor Shop “had no warnings or instructions concerning the risk of explosion or fire if the battery came into contact with conductive objects.”

“There are many other consumers out there that have been very severely injured just like him. Although Daniel was able to get the fire out, he suffered second and third-degree chemical and thermal burns to his left leg from thigh to the shin, and second-degree burns to his fingertips and hands,” said Mr. DeVaughn. In addition to other medical procedures, Mr. Anderson required skin grafts. He was out of work for 16 weeks, losing over $13,000 in wages and incurring medical bills in excess of $109,000.

“The burn to my leg has changed my life. I can no longer physically function the way I used to.” Mr. Anderson is seeking damages in excess of $75,000 from Big E’s Vapor Shop and the battery’s distributor, Oklahoma-based VapeUSA Corp.

According to K.M. Abraham, a pioneer of the Li-ion battery and a professor at Northeastern University, “the failure rate for lithium-ion batteries is less than one in a million.” The FDA recommends keeping loose batteries inside a case to prevent them from coming into contact with metal objects and short-circuiting.

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Senior Home Charged For the Death of Two Elderly Clients

Posted by David Brown 
· March 20, 2018 

Two separate lawsuits were filed at the San Mateo County Superior Court by families of two clients who fell on February 6th, 2017 and October 13th, 2017 in the Foster City Senior Facility arguing that it was not properly staffed. They claim lack of adequate trained staff at the facility led to the death of their relatives namely, Eleanor Abrahams, 96 and Dorothy Fraser, 88.

Kathryn A. Stebner, the attorney who is representing both families in the lawsuit, said, “These cases are indicative of the problems in assisted living facilities in California where there is inadequate staff to meet the needs of the residence.”

She further states that it is unusual for her firm to file two cases against the same institution at once.

“I don’t know that it ever happened,” she stated.

Stebner continues to comment that an administrator at the home told Fraser’s daughters the institution was understaffed.

Stebner said, “Staffing is the most expensive line item in any budget so that where the long-term care facilities make the budget cut and that’s why people die in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.”

In an email, Mike Mejia, Atria Senior Living Vice President for the West Operations, said ensuring the safety and health of the residents is a top priority. Atria Foster has assisted living homes in 27 states around the country and operates 37 senior living homes which serve over 4000 families in California alone. He further insisted on the commitment of the foster home to look into the allegations raised by the two families.

Foster and Abrams were taken into Atria with the knowledge that they had a history of falling and were at a very high risk of falling and would require high monitoring and urgent attention.

The suit filed by Fraser family states that Dorothy fell for the first time in 14th September 2017 after having lunch and the second time while she was having a shower in the bathroom and was left unattended. While Abraham’s family claim that Eleanor fell multiple times and the fourth time which was on January 23rd, 2017 where she was diagnosed with a left femoral neck fracture is when she succumbed to her injuries.

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Young boy awarded in a suit against Athletic Association and Borough

Posted by David Brown 
· March 15, 2018 

Zachary Hoffman, a fourteen-year-old boy who suffered a permanent head damage while he was in a youngster’s league game only a day before he celebrates his 12th birthday, was awarded a $1.7-million dollar settlement. The suit was placed against two Athletic Associations and a borough. Zachary received the settlement after a foul ball hit him while he was in a dugout at Chadwick field in Sewickley on April 13th, 2015 leaving him with long-term brain damage.

The incident spurred a debate on whether the playground for children is safe anymore. The incident brings the memory of the 4-year-old who was shot in the head in a Bronx playground in 2012.

Zachary was seated in the bunker at the first base watching his friends bat when the ball passed through an opening in the fence (between where the bunker begins and backstop ends) and struck him on the left side of the head. Zachary sustained a head injury, had a fractured skull and was bleeding intensely in his brain which caused permanent brain damage. In a lawsuit filed on March 2016, Zachary had to change schools and could not attend school on a daily basis due to the symptoms.

“He woke up a different person, his personality totally changed.” Alan Perer said.

Alan Perer, Zachary’s attorney according to the Little League safety the dugout should be properly protected by a fence at all fields across the country. An Allegheny County jury found Sewickley borough and Quaker Valley and the Avonworth Athletic Associations culpable for the injuries sustained by Zachary as a result of not putting in place safety measures. One week after Zachary’s incident the dugout was fenced.

“They knew about it and nobody did anything about it” Mr. Perer told the Jury.

“Everyone at Little League International is heartbroken when we learn of injuries like this and, sadly, this injury did occur within a little league program.” this is a statement issued by Little League spokesman Kevin Fountain.”Because the local program does not carry the insurance cover offered by Little League International, which requires reporting injuries and/or accidents, we were unaware of this unfortunate incident prior to today. Our thoughts are with the boy and his family.” He concluded.

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An Attorney in Trouble After a Woman Whose Family Died in Turnpike Sues Him for Negligence

Posted by David Brown 
· March 13, 2018 

A woman who lost her spouse and daughter in a car accident that occurred on February 22nd, 2016 has come forward and sued her previous attorney of what she terms as a breach of contract and negligence of duty. In her affidavit sworn before a Hudson County headquarters Superior Court on January 29th, Pam O’Donnell claims that her former attorney failed to present a notice of tort claim to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) which effectively prevented her from getting a fair and rightful compensation in her case.

Her late Husband, Mr. Timothy O’Donnell who was a tutor at the County Preparatory High School, and her 5-year old daughter, Bridget crashed into oncoming eastbound traffic as they were fast-approaching the 14C toll plaza on the infamous NJ Turnpike Hudson county headquarters extension.

No Barriers

No barriers were separating the eastbound and westbound highway lanes at the time the accident occurred. Her husband died on the spot while her daughter died shortly after while undergoing medication at the Jersey City Medical Center.

According to the lawsuit, Pam O’Donnell hired Peter Cresci as her lawyer immediately after the tragic accident that led to the death of her 48-year old husband and her 5-year old daughter. However, Mrs. O’Donnell claims that Cresci intentionally sent a notice of tort claim intended for the NJ Turnpike to a wrong address which ended up denying her a fair compensation.

The Lawsuit

The lawsuit lists Peter Cresci, various law firms registered in his name, and some of the John Doe attorney firms as the principal respondents in the case. The complainant has raised three complaint charges of malpractice against Cresci and also seeks different compensatory damages.

Pam has retaliated that she hired Cresci to legally represent herself, the estates of her late partner and daughter Bridget, and her daughter Ali. He was supposed to file the necessary civil litigation proceedings against all the relevant authorities including the NJTA but failed to do so.

State Law

According to the state law, all complainants who wish to file a notice of tort claim are required to first present a notice of tort claim directly to the party in question within ninety days of the cause of action which in Pam’s case was the 22nd car crash. If the complainant fails to do so, then the complaint is automatically dismissed. Pam claims that Cresci didn’t serve the required notice of tort claim until May 16th, 2016, a few days to the deadline. However, instead of sending the claim directly to the NJTA, he chose to send it to the Tort Contract Unit based at the state Department of Treasury.

After discovering the mistake, Pam hired a new attorney in early-August 2016 to try and save the already-worse situation by filing a new complaint several months beyond the deadline day, but NJTA immediately filed a motion seeking to dismiss the complaint.

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Doctors Should be Punished for Neglect in Hospitals

Posted by David Brown 
· March 8, 2018 

Is it justifiable to put a price tag on life? This question can have different answers all depending on the situation. When it comes to religion, people believe one moves on to a peaceful afterlife. In some cases, people believe reincarnation takes place. The following is a story about a child who lost her life and the parents are suing the hospital for wrongful death.

Who Was Stella Miles?
Stella Miles was a young girl with two parents, Michael Miles and Susanne Michels, who unfortunately died at 13 months of age in September 2016. She had been suffering from a life threatening condition known as hyperamonemia which in simple terms is high ammonia levels.

Stella’s parents decided to sue the doctors in-charge ( Dr. Amanda Kopydlowski, Dr. Vanessa Mondestin and Dr. Cori DeSanto) of Stella’s care in St. Louis Circuit Court House together with Washington university and the hospital for wrongful death.

According to lawyer Burton Greenberg, Stella had a seizure and fell unconscious while at home. Her parents immediately rushed her to a medical facility in Lake Saint Louis. She was later transferred on September 1, 2016 to St. Louis Children’s. Reason for doing this not stated.

The lawsuit alleges two main things. First, failure to treat Stella’ s worsened ammonia condition and secondly, neglecting to do an ammonia retest and genetic consultation before being abruptly discharged. Also, the lawsuit still claims the discharge summary was written three months later to hide the medical details of Stella.

On September 4 when Stella was discharged, she passed on five days later. The ammonia levels found in her was a shocking 1242 micro-gram per deciliter of blood. A child should have 11-35 micro-gram per deciliter of blood in normal circumstances. The two autopsies done later on confirmed that Stella died of high ammonia levels.

Another fact is that Nicole Miles, Stella’s 2-year-old sister, suffered from the similar medical condition and later died three months on December 2016. The parents are hoping to reach a settlement soon for $25000 in damages, although investigation is still ongoing.

This story has two sides of it and an investigation will at least bring out some clear answers. The parents are hoping to win this case before a trial date is set. Will winning such a case lessen their grief on loosing their daughter ? They are the only ones who know the feeling of loosing a child in such circumstances.

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Widow Sues Power Company for Negligence that Led to Husband’s Death

Posted by David Brown 
· March 6, 2018 

UHP Trooper Erick Ellsworth’s widow is suing Rocky Mountain Power and a teenage girl (not mentioned in the suit) for the deadly car crash that led to the death of her husband.

Erick was serving in a cleanup of a sagging cable which apparently had been sagging since 28th November 2016. Erick succumbed to his injuries 4 days later after being struck by a car being driven by the teenager who is not mentioned in the suit because she is a minor. The cable was not fixed by the time Erick was arriving there.

The lawsuit was filed on a 3rd district court on 2nd February, 2018 states that “Rocky Mountain Power by acts or omission, caused serious injuries to Erick Dale Ellsworth and ultimately his death.” Rocky Mountain Power had been informed about the cable though no one came to repair before the arrival of Erick.

Erick parked his car at the edge of the street for oncoming vehicles to spot the cable by shining his car head lights on the cable. Erick stopped a semitrailer truck at around 8:37 pm that would have snagged the cable if it attempted to go under it.

After efforts on trying to reach a spokesman for Rocky Mountain Power to speak on the accusations, he declined to comment on the charges. The company made no efforts to comment on any of the accusations against them.

According to the lawsuit, the teenager’s truck struck Ellsworth suddenly and without any warning. This has brought disorientation to the home of Erick Ellsworth. The lawsuit was made accusing the first defendant, Rocky Mountain Power, of negligence. The minor was sued for reckless driving and the issue of underage driving seemed to be a possible lawsuit that will also befall the minor.

Janica Ellsworth, the widow, is inquiring for compensation for Medical expenses, funeral, and other bills. She is also seeking compensation long run wages for loss of care, comfort, guidance, love, society, affection, support, associations, and services that Erick would have provided. Janica has requested for a jury to give the verdict on the case.

Erick Ellsworth was 31 at the time of his death and had served as a trooper for seven years. He left behind his wife and three sons.

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Suit Brought Against San Bernardino Starbucks Beverages Contaminated by Employee Bodily Fluids

Posted by David Brown 
· March 1, 2018 

The unsuspecting Vice family of Redlands strolled into a San Bernardino Starbucks on Feb 6, 2016. The family consisted of four patrons, husband and wife, Louis and Amanda, his mother, Rhonda Agles and their 2-year-old daughter Payton. The family took their drinks home and Louis’s mother noticed a red streak on her cup, she went to smell it and could smell something metallic. She didn’t really think too much of it until more red marks were discovered on the inner and outer portion of other cups. Together they deduced that it must be blood and since none of them were bleeding, it must have come from an employee.

Both mothers of the group called the Starbucks to find out if one of the employees were bleeding and it turned out that one had been. Both women complained that they or their family could be in grave danger due to this misstep. They claimed that the store manager offered them free drinks for a week due to the bad experience, but they declined, claiming that it was insensitive. The Vice’s wanted the Starbucks employee to have a blood test so that they would know if they were in danger of contracting, HIV or Hepatitis or some other blood-borne disease. Due to federal privacy laws, the best the family could do was to have testing done on themselves over the course of six months to see if they had in fact contracted anything.

The corporate office offered the family a total of $4,000 since they had to go to all of the trouble of being tested. This was not enough for the Vices, they filed suit to sue for negligence, emotional distress, assault and the list goes on. They claim that the whole experience has been overtly traumatic, due to the fact that Starbucks did not seem to care about the severity of the issue and they are demanding to be compensated. So far there has been no public response from Starbucks and the San Bernardino store remains open to this day about two years after the incident.

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A Jersey Police Sergeant Admits to Hitting a Suspected Drug Offender with a Police SUV

Posted by David Brown 
· February 27, 2018 

In an astonishing turn of events, a New Jersey city police sergeant has admitted that he hit a drug offender who was trying to flee with a police vehicle. While pleading guilty to the disorderly person’s offense on Feb 9th, the police officer asked for forgiveness and accepted the fact that he was unfit to hold a public office again.

 

Mr. Daniel Welsh, who is the defense lawyer of John Ransom, told the court that his client has been a very noble and dedicated police officer for over 28 years and regretted that the matter had to end up in an unfortunate manner.

Ransom, 50 who spoke calmly admitted that the incident took place on August 6th, 2017 while he was on duty and driving SUV that was equipped with flashing lights and a siren. He said that he saw an individual who was later identified as Shiron Cooper who he suspected was involved in a drug deal.

Ransom further admitted that he drove recklessly and struck the complainant while attempting to arrest him. He further acknowledged that Shiron Cooper suffered a severe injury as a result of the incident.

Rising Cases of Police Officers Pleading to Off-Duty Schemes

The plea plead by Ransom added to the increasing number of black eye cases recorded by the police department which has seen at least 11 police officers plead guilty to off-duty job schemes.

Out of the 11 reported cases, four police officers charged with various offenses related to manipulating time sheets while four other officers have been indicted for their role in a high-speed chase that ended in a deadly crash.

Previous Charges

Previously, Officer Ransom was accused of assault by auto in the 4th degree in an incident that took place in Audubon Park and was recorded on video. Assault by car is a criminal offense that can land an individual in prison for up to 18 months unless you’re a first-time offender.

Cooper, who was also in attendance, has also been charged with six offenses including resisting lawful arrest.

Ransom was effectively suspended without pay until at least March 16th when he expected to be sentenced by Judge Paul DePascale. After the judgment, Ransom will be expected to forfeit his job, but he will be eligible to apply for his full pension.

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