New York Injury Lawyers Blog

Two Westchester County, NY residents were charged with Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) after their involvement in unrelated accidents. Debra Heyde, a 49 year-old Yorktown woman, was charged with misdemeanor Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) on March 6, 2010 after her car struck a utility pole on Greenwood Street. She was also charged with various traffic violations. She is due in Town Court on April 8.

John A. Briggi, a 52 year-old male Yorktown resident was charged with misdemeanor Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) Friday, March 5, 2010 after his car hit a tree on Andre Place and reportedly drove off. Officers caught up with him a short time later and also charged him with leaving the scene of an accident, a traffic violation. He is due in Town Court on April 6.

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Yorktown woman, man charged with DWI after accidents, Journal News, Terence Corcoran, March 10, 2010.

A 26 year-old former Yonkers resident, Louis Nardella, Jr., entered pleas of guilty to multiple felonies stemming from a car accident that killed a 29-year-old woman in New Rochelle. Mr. Nardella pled guilty to vehicular manslaughter, criminal possession of a controlled substance, tampering with physical evidence, driving while intoxicated (DWI), driving while impaired by drugs, reckless driving and several traffic violations.

The victim, Amy Taylor, was killed May 23, 2009 when Nardella's Subaru hit her car head-on at 1 a.m. on Pelham Road near Park Avenue. There were skid marks on the road from the Subaru, and police said a witness told them that he was going fast.

Taylor was trapped in her car and had to be extricated by the New Rochelle Fire Department. She died at the scene. Police pulled Nardella from his burning car, and he was hospitalized with a broken leg, ruptured spleen and internal bleeding.

A toxicology report found that he had been under the influence of narcotics at the time of the crash. A search of his car recovered 71 Vicodin pills inside a locked glove compartment that were packaged for sale, according to the District Attorney's Office.

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Bronx man pleads guilty in crash that killed woman in New Rochelle, Journal News, Rebecca Baker, March 18, 2010.

New York Prosecutors have indicted James Lomma, a crane company owner, on manslaughter and other charges stemming from the 2008 deaths of two New York City workers. The incident occurred when the giant crane snapped and crashed into a Manhattan apartment building, only two months after another crane collapsed in Manhattan killing seven people.

The indictment also named New York Crane and Equipment Corp. and J.F. Lomma Inc., and a former mechanic of New York Crane & Equipment Corp.

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Crane company owner indicted, Associated Press, March 8, 2010.

The family of Anthony Leone, a 63 year-old retiree collecting disability benefits, recovered $2 million in a settlement of a Brooklyn (NYC) medical malpractice lawsuit against his doctor and a hospital. Anthony Leone died in June 2006, about 2.5 years after a New York Methodist Hospital radiologist detected a suspicious mass in an X-ray.

Leone and his doctor were never informed of the result, and Leone's cancer was not diagnosed until July 2005. The hospital blamed Leone's doctor, contending that the doctor was aware of the X-ray but ignored the test's films after a preliminary reading indicated no problem. A trial resulted in liability for both defendants and a verdict of $4,194,000, but the parties negotiated the post-trial settlement soon thereafter.

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Verdictsearch, March 11, 2010.

Amir Zeqiri, 17, a Central Islip, NY resident, drowned in a bizarre incident. The tragedy occurred when the teenage employee went behind the Smithtown, NY Dunkin' Donuts to empty the garbage and fell into the open cesspool. After not returning to work, Zeqiri's younger cousin when out to investigate and noticed the boy flailing around in 8 feet of filthy water. He ran for help. Upon returning the boy had slipped beneath the surface.

Amir Zeqiri was fished out the filthy cesspool and rushed to the nearest hospital where he later died.

Dunkin' Donuts and its employees expressed condolences for the boy's tragic death. The hole Zeqiri reportedly fell into was not covered with a manhole. A personal injury and/or wrongful death may be initiated against the entity charged with the duty of maintaining the premises.

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Teen dies after falling into open cesspool outside of Long Island Dunkin' Donuts, Daily News, Corky Siemaszko, March 1, 2010.

An SUV driven by a 72 year-old NYC churchgoer was involved in a car accident that killed one and injured four Sunday, March 8, 2010, in Brooklyn. The accident occurred in the Gravesend Section in a park by the AHN Presbyterian Church.

40-year-old, Sung Won Cho, reportedly died of her injuries at the scene. Cho, the owner of a Manhattan nail salon, is survived by a husband and two sons, aged 8 and 10. Witnesses said the boys may have seen the accident.

The four people injured by the Mercedes SUV have been identified as two women, a 10-year-old girl and a 15-month old boy. All were transported to a nearby hospital for treatment of their injuries. Police report that their injuries are not life-threatening.

The identity of the driver has not been released.

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Car Mows Down Five in Brooklyn Church Parking Lot, 1010 Wins, Sonia Rincon, March 9, 2010.

A 44 year-old New York carpenter, Luis Barros, will recover $8 million for injuries sustained after falling 15 feet off of a scaffold on a New Rochelle construction job site. A Bronx jury awarded the plaintiff $18,500,000 but the parties had previously agreed to a high/low agreement whereby the plaintiff's maximum recoverable amount was $8,000,0000.

The theory of the case was that the scaffold was structurally defective. Barros claimed that he sufferd a fracture of an ankle and herniations of three spinal discs. He underwent fusion of a portion of his spine, and he claimed that his injured ankle will require fusion. Liability was decided via summary judgment, but the defense challenged Barros' spinal injuries, suggesting that they were products of degeneration.

Website Resource:

Verdictsearch; March 4, 2010.

Two New York Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) officers were struck by a speeding car while stopped at a red light on February 25, 2010.

The motor vehicle accident occurred around 6 a.m. when a 37 year old male resident of Rye made a left turn on Boston Post Road onto Purdy Avenue. He crossed the yellow lines and struck the front of the stopped police vehicle.

The man was ticketed for speeding and disobeying a traffic control device for crossing the double yellow lines.

The officers were taken to White Plains Hospital complaining of pain in their lower legs.

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Two Transit Cops Hurt in Rye Car Accident, Journal News, Leslie Korngold, February 25, 2010.

On Tuesday, January 26, 2010, Ray LaHood, U.S. Transportation Secretary, announced a federal ban on texting for commercial truck drivers while driving. This new law, which took effect immediately, expressly prohibits texting by drivers of commercial vehicles such as large trucks and buses. Report shows that drivers who text are more than 20 times likely to get into an accident than non-distracted drivers.

Drivers who text while driving commercial vehicles will be subject to civil or criminal penalties of up to $2,750.

On December 30, 2009, President Obama also signed an Executive Order directing federal employees not to engage in text messaging while driving government-owned vehicles or operating government-owned equipment.

"We want to make it crystal clear to operators and their employers that texting while driving is the type of unsafe activity that these regulations are intended to prohibit", said Anne Ferro, Administrator for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA.) FMCSA is also working on additional regulatory measures that will be announced in the coming months.

The family of a 6-year boy who was struck in the head by an oxygen tank causing his death at Westchester Medical Center has reached a settlement of $2.9 million in a medical malpractice and wrongful death lawsuit.

The horrifying incident happened when a hospital staffer brought an oxygen canister into the MRI's magnetic field while the 6-year old, Michael Colombini, was lying in the MRI chamber. The machine's powerful magnet sent the metal oxygen tank flying into the chamber. The tank struck the boy in the head. He died two days later.

Michael Colombini had a benign brain tumor successfully removed at Westchester Medical Center and returned July 27, 2001 for a follow-up MRI. The boy was sedated and inside the MRI machine when a problem with the supply of piped-in oxygen to the MRI room occurred. An anesthesiologist called out to obtain oxygen, and oxygen tank was brought into the room. A NYS investigation concluded that the anesthesiologist brought the tank into the room, while the hospital internal investigation found that either a nurse or doctor brought the tank in.

A week after the accident, then president of Westchester Medical Center, Edward Stolzenberg, said the hospital "failed miserably" and he felt an "overwhelming sense of guilt."

The family's initial lawsuit included General Electric Corp., which manufactured the MRI machine and several individuals involved with the accident.

The settlement will be paid entirely by Westchester Medical Center. Neither the family nor Westchester Medical commented on the settlement.

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Croton family settles with Westchester Medical Center over 2001 death of boy, 6, Journal News, Gary Stern, February 6, 2009.