This will be an interesting case for the PSD community to follow...
FROM THE AUGUST 9 ISSUE OF
http://www.overlawyered.com
Last October the rescue squads of the town of Old Saybrook, Ct., were
hailed as heroes for their work in attempting to save Barbara
Connors, 75, of Medfield, Mass., from a Ford Explorer that had
plunged into the Connecticut River. Connors' son-in-law, who had been
at the wheel and who managed to escape from the vehicle on his own,
later told police he accidentally hit the SUV's accelerator,
propelling it through a chain-link fence and into the water below.
But now Connors is suing a long list of officials of the town
(population 1,962) on the grounds that they should have maintained or
funded a specially dedicated and equipped dive rescue team; had they
done so, she would have been rescued from the submerged vehicle in
less than the 29 minutes it actually took, avoiding serious injury.
Through her attorney, Robert Reardon Jr. of New London, she's also
suing the son-in-law. "'I find it extraordinary the town is being
sued in these circumstances,' First Selectman Mike Pace, one of the
defendants, said at Thursday's selectmen's meeting." (Claudia Van
Nes, "Town Sued Over River Rescue", Hartford Courant, Aug. 5; Walt
Platteborze, "Woman 'critical' after being pulled from submerged
SUV", New Haven Register, Oct. 15, 2004).
....................................
Woman `critical' after being pulled from submerged SUV
Walt Platteborze, Register Correspondent10/15/2004
Emergency personnel inspect the the vehicle and seawall Thursday.
OLD SAYBROOK A woman was in critical condition late Thursday after
being trapped in a vehicle that plunged into the Connecticut River at
Saybrook Point, but the driver, who managed to escape, was rescued by
crew members from a nearby schooner.
Barbara Connors, 75, of Medfield, Mass., was in the submerged Ford
Explorer for about 15 to 20 minutes before being pulled to the
surface by police divers, Detective Sgt. Eugean Heiney said.
Connors had no pulse, but a CPR team of police, firefighters
ambulance personnel and paramedics were able to restore a heartbeat
at the scene, Patrolman Michael Spera said. She was in critical
condition late Thursday at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
Police said the Ford Explorer carrying Connors and Alan Houser, 70,
of 10 Rose Lane, Old Lyme, jumped the sidewalk that runs along the
bulkhead between the Dock & Dine restaurant and town pavilion,
crashed through a fence and flew about 15 feet into the river.
The incident occurred about 12:49 p.m. The vehicle was completely
submerged in about 10 feet of water when rescue personnel arrived.
The vehicle plunged into the water less than two hours after high
tide, which meant the level next to the bulkhead was relatively deep.
Houser, the driver, got out of the sinking vehicle. He was hauled
from the 60-degree water by two crew members of the schooner
Quinnipiack, an educational vessel of New Haven's Sound School that
was in the vicinity with a group of high school students aboard.
The crew members, Jason Hansen, 23, whose hometown wasn't available,
and Shawn Forgette, 19, of West Haven, went to Houser's rescue in a
ship's boat, police said. Neither man could be reached for comment.
Heiney said police hadn't yet determined why the Explorer went into
the river, and hadn't yet been able to speak with Houser, who was
treated at Middlesex Medical Center Shoreline in Essex and released.
The relationship of Connors and Houser was unclear, Heiney said.
Parking spaces in the large municipal lot facing the river are a
favorite mid-day spot for area residents who like to eat lunch in
their vehicles while enjoying the view across to Old Lyme.
Police received several cell phone calls alerting them of the
incident.
Joseph Bergonzi, a former Chester selectman and firefighter who was
having lunch at the point with his wife, said "It was the (fastest)
response I've ever seen they were here in a heartbeat."
Town Fire Chief Jeff True, Spera and Officer Michael Gardner;
Firefighter Chris Cestaros; and Essex Assistant Fire Chief Andy
Kresley went into the water to search for the vehicle.
Old Saybrook Officer Jay Rankin and state police Trooper David Todd,
in wetsuits and scuba gear, then entered the water and pulled Connors
from the vehicle.
Heiney said the rescue effort was aided by a truck from Eric's Towing
in Old Saybrook, which used a tow rope to pull the vehicle to the
surface and out.
A current of 1 to 2 mph made the rescue more difficult, Heiney said.
Spera said the police department was "very pleased with the rescue
effort by all the agencies involved, as well as the citizens (the
Quinnipiack crew) who helped us." Often in such efforts, the help of
citizens is critical, he said.
Also taking part in the rescue were the Old Saybrook, Essex and Old
Lyme ambulance associations, paramedics from Middlesex and Lawrence &
Memorial hospitals, the state Department of Environmental Protection
marine division and the U.S. Coast Guard, police said.
It was second tragedy at that location in just more than a week. The
body of a Groton woman was found in the same area Oct. 5. Her death
was ruled a suicide by drowning.
........................................
Town Sued Over River Rescue
Woman Trapped In Car Driven Off Point Faults Lack Of Dive Team
August 5, 2005
By CLAUDIA VAN NES, Courant Staff Writer
OLD SAYBROOK -- Barbara Connors, 76, rescued after a car driven by
her son-in-law plunged into the Connecticut River last October, is
suing a long list of town officials for damages.
"I find it extraordinary the town is being sued in these
circumstances," First Selectman Mike Pace, one of the defendants,
said at Thursday's selectmen's meeting.
The town's insurance company will represent Pace; park and recreation
commission members; Police Chief Ed Mosca; Public Works Director
Larry Bonin; Building Inspector Donald Lucas; Town Planner Christine
Nelson; and Chester Slododosky, who the suit says was the zoning
enforcement officer at the time, but had retired prior to the
incident.
Also being sued is Alan Hauser, the son-in-law who lives with
Connor's daughter in Old Lyme. Hauser told police he accidentally hit
the accelerator of his Ford Explorer, which was running and in gear,
causing the vehicle to jump the walk and crash through the chain-link
fence that runs along the river at town-owned Saybrook Point.
Hauser had driven his mother-in-law to the Point Oct. 14 to have
lunch with her.
In the intent to sue filed by Connor's attorney, Robert Reardon Jr.
of New London, late last year, the rescuers were named - police
officers and volunteers - but are not included in the actual suit.
Instead, added to the suit are new accusations that the town failed
to maintain a rescue dive team and refused to fund a team, causing
Connors to spend 29 minutes submerged in the water until divers could
get to her.
"There were some very heroic acts going on that day," acknowledged
Reardon Thursday. Indeed, at a ceremony in town hall honoring the
police, firefighters and others who repeatedly dove without equipment
to try to rescue Connors, her family attended and thanked those
honored.
But, Reardon contended, divers at the ready would have meant "these
people didn't have to risk their lives and my client could have been
rescued in a timely manner."
Reardon said Connors, who had been living on her own in
Massachusetts, has severe brain damage from the incident and lives
with round-the-clock care in a nursing home in Waterford that she is
never expected to leave.
The suit also charges the fence should have been stronger, the Point
patrolled at lunchtime by police and more signs warning of "unsafe
conditions" posted.
Pace told fellow selectmen the suit would be fought "vigorously by
the town," which he pointed out not only provided scores of rescuers,
but also sustained costs in needed repairs.
FROM THE AUGUST 9 ISSUE OF
http://www.overlawyered.com
Last October the rescue squads of the town of Old Saybrook, Ct., were
hailed as heroes for their work in attempting to save Barbara
Connors, 75, of Medfield, Mass., from a Ford Explorer that had
plunged into the Connecticut River. Connors' son-in-law, who had been
at the wheel and who managed to escape from the vehicle on his own,
later told police he accidentally hit the SUV's accelerator,
propelling it through a chain-link fence and into the water below.
But now Connors is suing a long list of officials of the town
(population 1,962) on the grounds that they should have maintained or
funded a specially dedicated and equipped dive rescue team; had they
done so, she would have been rescued from the submerged vehicle in
less than the 29 minutes it actually took, avoiding serious injury.
Through her attorney, Robert Reardon Jr. of New London, she's also
suing the son-in-law. "'I find it extraordinary the town is being
sued in these circumstances,' First Selectman Mike Pace, one of the
defendants, said at Thursday's selectmen's meeting." (Claudia Van
Nes, "Town Sued Over River Rescue", Hartford Courant, Aug. 5; Walt
Platteborze, "Woman 'critical' after being pulled from submerged
SUV", New Haven Register, Oct. 15, 2004).
....................................
Woman `critical' after being pulled from submerged SUV
Walt Platteborze, Register Correspondent10/15/2004
Emergency personnel inspect the the vehicle and seawall Thursday.
OLD SAYBROOK A woman was in critical condition late Thursday after
being trapped in a vehicle that plunged into the Connecticut River at
Saybrook Point, but the driver, who managed to escape, was rescued by
crew members from a nearby schooner.
Barbara Connors, 75, of Medfield, Mass., was in the submerged Ford
Explorer for about 15 to 20 minutes before being pulled to the
surface by police divers, Detective Sgt. Eugean Heiney said.
Connors had no pulse, but a CPR team of police, firefighters
ambulance personnel and paramedics were able to restore a heartbeat
at the scene, Patrolman Michael Spera said. She was in critical
condition late Thursday at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
Police said the Ford Explorer carrying Connors and Alan Houser, 70,
of 10 Rose Lane, Old Lyme, jumped the sidewalk that runs along the
bulkhead between the Dock & Dine restaurant and town pavilion,
crashed through a fence and flew about 15 feet into the river.
The incident occurred about 12:49 p.m. The vehicle was completely
submerged in about 10 feet of water when rescue personnel arrived.
The vehicle plunged into the water less than two hours after high
tide, which meant the level next to the bulkhead was relatively deep.
Houser, the driver, got out of the sinking vehicle. He was hauled
from the 60-degree water by two crew members of the schooner
Quinnipiack, an educational vessel of New Haven's Sound School that
was in the vicinity with a group of high school students aboard.
The crew members, Jason Hansen, 23, whose hometown wasn't available,
and Shawn Forgette, 19, of West Haven, went to Houser's rescue in a
ship's boat, police said. Neither man could be reached for comment.
Heiney said police hadn't yet determined why the Explorer went into
the river, and hadn't yet been able to speak with Houser, who was
treated at Middlesex Medical Center Shoreline in Essex and released.
The relationship of Connors and Houser was unclear, Heiney said.
Parking spaces in the large municipal lot facing the river are a
favorite mid-day spot for area residents who like to eat lunch in
their vehicles while enjoying the view across to Old Lyme.
Police received several cell phone calls alerting them of the
incident.
Joseph Bergonzi, a former Chester selectman and firefighter who was
having lunch at the point with his wife, said "It was the (fastest)
response I've ever seen they were here in a heartbeat."
Town Fire Chief Jeff True, Spera and Officer Michael Gardner;
Firefighter Chris Cestaros; and Essex Assistant Fire Chief Andy
Kresley went into the water to search for the vehicle.
Old Saybrook Officer Jay Rankin and state police Trooper David Todd,
in wetsuits and scuba gear, then entered the water and pulled Connors
from the vehicle.
Heiney said the rescue effort was aided by a truck from Eric's Towing
in Old Saybrook, which used a tow rope to pull the vehicle to the
surface and out.
A current of 1 to 2 mph made the rescue more difficult, Heiney said.
Spera said the police department was "very pleased with the rescue
effort by all the agencies involved, as well as the citizens (the
Quinnipiack crew) who helped us." Often in such efforts, the help of
citizens is critical, he said.
Also taking part in the rescue were the Old Saybrook, Essex and Old
Lyme ambulance associations, paramedics from Middlesex and Lawrence &
Memorial hospitals, the state Department of Environmental Protection
marine division and the U.S. Coast Guard, police said.
It was second tragedy at that location in just more than a week. The
body of a Groton woman was found in the same area Oct. 5. Her death
was ruled a suicide by drowning.
........................................
Town Sued Over River Rescue
Woman Trapped In Car Driven Off Point Faults Lack Of Dive Team
August 5, 2005
By CLAUDIA VAN NES, Courant Staff Writer
OLD SAYBROOK -- Barbara Connors, 76, rescued after a car driven by
her son-in-law plunged into the Connecticut River last October, is
suing a long list of town officials for damages.
"I find it extraordinary the town is being sued in these
circumstances," First Selectman Mike Pace, one of the defendants,
said at Thursday's selectmen's meeting.
The town's insurance company will represent Pace; park and recreation
commission members; Police Chief Ed Mosca; Public Works Director
Larry Bonin; Building Inspector Donald Lucas; Town Planner Christine
Nelson; and Chester Slododosky, who the suit says was the zoning
enforcement officer at the time, but had retired prior to the
incident.
Also being sued is Alan Hauser, the son-in-law who lives with
Connor's daughter in Old Lyme. Hauser told police he accidentally hit
the accelerator of his Ford Explorer, which was running and in gear,
causing the vehicle to jump the walk and crash through the chain-link
fence that runs along the river at town-owned Saybrook Point.
Hauser had driven his mother-in-law to the Point Oct. 14 to have
lunch with her.
In the intent to sue filed by Connor's attorney, Robert Reardon Jr.
of New London, late last year, the rescuers were named - police
officers and volunteers - but are not included in the actual suit.
Instead, added to the suit are new accusations that the town failed
to maintain a rescue dive team and refused to fund a team, causing
Connors to spend 29 minutes submerged in the water until divers could
get to her.
"There were some very heroic acts going on that day," acknowledged
Reardon Thursday. Indeed, at a ceremony in town hall honoring the
police, firefighters and others who repeatedly dove without equipment
to try to rescue Connors, her family attended and thanked those
honored.
But, Reardon contended, divers at the ready would have meant "these
people didn't have to risk their lives and my client could have been
rescued in a timely manner."
Reardon said Connors, who had been living on her own in
Massachusetts, has severe brain damage from the incident and lives
with round-the-clock care in a nursing home in Waterford that she is
never expected to leave.
The suit also charges the fence should have been stronger, the Point
patrolled at lunchtime by police and more signs warning of "unsafe
conditions" posted.
Pace told fellow selectmen the suit would be fought "vigorously by
the town," which he pointed out not only provided scores of rescuers,
but also sustained costs in needed repairs.