Car Crash Attorney Reaches $260,000 Settlement for Woman Struck by Police Car in a Convenience Store Parking Lot

By Dean I. Weitzman, Esq. on September 20th, 2019

A California woman who was struck by a police car in a parking lot as she tried to find her dropped cigarette on the ground next to her car has reached a $260,000 settlement with the Santa Rosa Police Department in the case.

The 29-year-old woman, Laure Friedell, had stopped at a convenience store on West Steele Lane in Santa Rosa at 4:40 p.m. on April 27, 2017, and left a lit cigarette under her car by the left front tire before walking into the store, according to an Aug. 23 story in The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat newspaper.

When she came out of the store, she couldn’t find the lit cigarette and hunched over next to her parked car to try to find it on the ground. While she was looking for the lit cigarette, a city-owned pickup truck being driven by a police detective pulled into the empty parking spot next to Freidell’s parked car, but the officer didn’t see her hunched over and looking on the ground, the story reported.

The officer, Detective Michael Spediacci III, was heading to a nearby police substation to fill out his timecard and was watching a large tree on the other side of his pickup as he entered the parking spot. But as his truck moved forward slowly, he struck the woman’s right foot and left leg with his truck as she crawled on the asphalt in the parking lot. He didn’t realize she was there or that he had struck her until he heard her cry out in pain, the story reported.

Friedell, who suffered serious and potentially permanent leg injuries from the police truck driving over her, filed a lawsuit against the city in March of 2018. The Santa Rosa City Council agreed to settle the case for $260,000 in exchange for the victim dropping her lawsuit. The incident didn’t break any bones or tear any ligaments in her legs but left her temporarily unable to put weight on her left leg and left her legs uneven, which could require future surgery. She was unable to worry for a period of time after the incident, the story continued.

Legal cases like this one occur around the nation every day and are examples of similar kinds of truck and car crash cases that MyPhillyLawyer attorneys regularly work on tirelessly for our own clients. Often, we are not able to discuss the cases we are actively working on due to confidentiality requirements, so we discuss other relevant cases in the news such as this one to illustrate the legal situations people find themselves in every day.

When you need a truck or car accident injury attorney, we here at MyPhillyLawyer stand ready to assist you with your legal case if you or a loved one is ever seriously injured in any kind of car crash, slip and fall, pedestrian injury, workplace injury or wrongful death in Philadelphia or anywhere in the United States. We pledge to make sure that you and your family get the compassionate, dogged and experienced legal representation that you deserve and expect from a professional legal team which works hard to uncover every fact to bolster your case and maximize your damage award.

We represent the families of victims who die in such tragedies as well, to ensure that their families receive every penny of damages that they are eligible to receive.

Talk to a Philadelphia car crash attorney at MyPhillyLawyer by calling 215-914-5471 or toll-free at 1-866-907-2231 anytime and our experienced, compassionate, aggressive team of attorneys and support staff will be there for you and your family every step of the way as we manage your case through the legal system.

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Listen to Court Radio every Sunday at 7 a.m. with me, attorney Dean Weitzman of MyPhillyLawyer, on Philadelphia’s Old School 100.3 WRNB, Boom 103.9 or on Classix 107.9 WPPZ FM. Listen to Court Radio online or on the radio every week for the latest on legal topics and to get answers to your legal questions. In addition to addressing the topical issues of the day, we’ll answer caller questions on a wide range of legal issues.