Decolator, Cohen & DiPrisco - Authors of The Police Officers Right to Sue Newsletter

Decolator, Cohen & DiPrisco, LLP is also dedicated to protecting members of the service who are wrongly exposed to the daily dangers caused by the negligence of private landowners and corporations. The following is a sampling of line-of-duty accidents DCD has undertaken or is presently litigating on behalf of members of the service involving private concerns.

I. APARTMENT BUILDINGS

P $400,000 settlement for an Officer who reinjured his back while rescuing tenants from a fire. The superintendent failed to remove a sofa from a hallway. The sofa caught fire and the fire spread throughout the apartment building.

P $87,500 settlement for an Officer who was injured in the lobby of an apartment building when the building owner failed to fix the locks to the entrance thereby allowing perpetrators inside the building. During a buy and bust operation, one of the perps broke the Officer’s arm with a baseball bat.

P $550,000 settlement for an Officer injured while chasing a perpetrator inside an abandoned Church building. Although the lower levels of the vacant building were secure, the Archdiocese failed to remove scaffolding on the second floor, allowing perpetrators to enter the building. The Officer fell through a hole in the building and injured his shoulder.

P $300,000 settlement for an Officer injured after he fell down a flight of defective steps in an apartment building.

P Litigation pending in a case involving an Officer injured after slipping and falling down a flight of steps in an apartment building when rain water from a defective window pane ended up on the landing causing the Officer to slip and fall.

P Litigation involving an upstate Police Officer injured after chasing a perpetrator and exiting a trailer home with no steps.

II. UTILITIES

P $601,000 settlement after a liability verdict for a Detective who was injured when a utility company contractor left a manhole cover open causing the Detective to fall in the hole during a car stop.

P $250,000 settlement for an Officer injured when he fell on a plumber’s cut in a roadway made by Brooklyn Union Gas. The roadway was not properly repaired by Brooklyn Union Gas and the defective condition caused the Officer to fall and injure his knee.

P Litigation pending on a case involving a Police Officer being injured after he tripped on an uneven manhole cover maintained by Con Ed. Utility companies are responsible for maintaining the area surrounding the manhole cover. The Officer suffered a knee injury.

III. HOTEL

P $225,000 settlement for a Detective injured after tripping on an uneven lip of a door entrance in a staircase of a hotel. The Detective also claimed that inadequate lighting contributed to his fall and contributed to his knee injury.

IV. STORE OWNERS

P $475,000 settlement for an Officer injured in an RMP accident when a employee for a gasoline station made a false 911 call. The false call lead the Officer and his partner on an emergency radio run. The operator had an accident which injured the Officer. Ultimately, the store owner was responsible for the Officer’s injuries.

P $150,000 settlement for an Officer injured after tripping over full garbage bags left in front of a bagel store. The store owner was responsible for the Officer’s injuries because the garbage bags were unlawfully left in front of the store.

P $250,000 for an Officer injured after his RMP skidded on Armor-All left in the street by a carwash. The Officer exacerbated a prior neck injury.

V. LANDOWNERS

P $200,000 for an Officer injured after tripping on debris in a privately owned lot. The owner of the lot did not secure it and the Officer, while chasing a perpetrator, fell and injured his knee.

P $40,000 settlement for Officer injured after falling down in the basement of a pizzeria when he slipped on olive oil. The Officer was investigating a burglary when he fell and injured his knee.

P $37,500 settlement for Officer injured after falling down a staircase while investigating a burglary. The Officer fell due to inadequate lighting at the location.

VI. PROPERTY OWNER

P Litigation pending on a case involving an Officer being injured when he fell in a house which was in the midst of extensive renovations. The Officer fell through a hole in the floor on the 2^nd floor while responding to a radio run.

P $22,500 settlement for a Sergeant who sprained her knee while responding to a domestic job. The Sergeant slipped on a walkway in front of a residence. The sidewalk had been recently shoveled to clear snow and ice. The Sergeant slipped on the sidewalk which was inadequately shoveled.

P Litigation pending in a case involving an Officer responding to a domestic radio run and fell in the backyard after the homeowner failed to adequately shovel ice and snow from the backyard and the deck.

VII. CONSTRUCTION

P Litigation pending involving two cases in which Officers were injured by scaffolding not properly secured.

P Litigation pending in a case involving an Officer tripping on construction material causing a serious injury.

VIII. ASSAULT

A. CITY

P Litigation pending in a case which an Officer was severely injured after being assaulted by another member of the service.

B. PRIVATE

P Multiple cases involving Officers’ being injured as a result of being assaulted by members of the public.

(Note: It is difficult to recover in money damages “assault” type of cases unless it is demonstrated that the civilian has assets or is in possession of an insurance policy which covers the underlying conduct.)

CERATI’S LAW

P $100,000 for Officer from Queens South, who after responding to a one car fatality involving a drunk driver, was struck by another vehicle. Lower Court, Appellate Court and Trial Court all concluded that the car which caused her to be there, the intoxicated driver is equally as responsible for her injuries as the car which struck her.

P Litigation pending in a case involving an Officer who was struck by a vehicle while issuing another motorist a no seat belt summons. Pursuant to the Cerati law, DCD sued both motorists, the motorist which struck the Officer and the motorist who committed the Vehicle & Traffic Law Violation.

P Litigation pending in a case involving an Officer from the Department of Environmental Protection who was seriously injured after his ATV flipped over after chasing two trespassers from a reservoir area. DCD also brought an action against unauthorized tree cutters pursuant to the Cerati law claiming that the Officer would not have been at the location had it not been for a radio call that the tree cutters were present. When the Officer arrived at the scene, the tree cutters were not present, however, the two individuals riding their ATV’s on government property took off and the Officer was injured while pursuing them.

P Litigation pending in a case involving a Brooklyn South Officer seriously injured during a car stop when he tripped on an uneven bus apron while issuing a motorist a summons for a Vehicle & Traffic Law violation. Pursuant to the Cerati law, DCD sued both the City for the roadway violation and the motorist who caused the Officer to take police action.

P Litigation pending in a case involving a Lieutenant who sustained a serious injury to his shoulder while conducting a raid in a home under investigation for alleged drug transactions. The Lieutenant injured his shoulder when he used a battering ram to force open the door to the home.

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