Florida woman receives $55,000 from city over dump truck crash
By Jim Greene
Published on November 23, 2005
A Florida woman will receive a $55,000 settlement from the city of Largo for injuries received when a city dump truck ran into her car three years ago.
The City Commission this week approved the payment to Julie Alfano, whose claim against the city says the truck driver ran a stop sign and hit her Nissan Pathfinder on the passenger side. Alfano blamed the accident for neck and back injuries, a shoulder bruise from her seat belt, carpal tunnel syndrome, and injury to her jaw known as temporomandibular joint (TMJ) syndrome.
City worker Todd Hagenbuch claimed he came to a stop, made a right turn, then felt Alfano's SUV hit his truck before he saw it.
A witness to the truck crash supported Alfano's version of the incident. In a sworn deposition, Jeffrey Raub said the dump truck hit Alfanso's SUV broadside.
Alfano said injuries sustained in the crash prevented her from continuing her job as a cocktail server. Her attorney said she was diagnosed with whiplash and a mild concussion.
According to Pinellas County records, Hagenbuch has been cited before for careless driving, speeding, running a stop sign, driving a vehicle in unsafe conditions, and failing to obey a traffic control device, and was arrested in 1994 on for driving while intoxicated.
Records show that Alfano has been cited for speeding and driving without a seat belt.
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