Westminster : $1.4 Million Awarded to Youth in Fall Off Slide

William Maughan, a 16-year-old sophomore at Westminster High School, has been awarded a settlement estimated at more than $1.4 million for an injury suffered almost six years ago when he fell on a Slip ‘n’ Slide that had been set up on cement at his apartment complex.

The apartment complex, Westminster Chimes, is partly owned by Carmine Esposito, the Villa Park landlord who owns several slum properties in Santa Ana currently involved in a rent strike by hundreds of tenants.

The settlement between Maughan, Esposito and Esposito’s partner, Kurtis Sandhoff, was reached shortly before the case was scheduled to go to trial in Superior Court. The settlement awards the teen-ager $60,000 immediately. When he turns 21, he will begin receiving monthly payments that will last for the rest of his life.

The payments will be $1,018 for the first year and increase 3% annually. The payments are guaranteed to his heirs for 20 years, if Maughan dies young.

Based on the average life expectancy of 74 years, Maughan can expect to receive more than $1.4 million, his attorney, Troy Roe, said Thursday.

The slide had been improperly set up on May 13, 1979, by the apartment manager, Roe said. Maughan, then 11, fell on the cement and was knocked unconscious for about 30 minutes. He later developed a psycho-motor seizure disorder, believed caused by the head trauma, Roe said.

“The basic allegation was that the manager wasn’t well-trained and failed to supervise the pool area” where the slide was set up, Roe said.

Maughan takes medicine to control his petit mal seizures, but the injury is not expected to affect his longevity. His doctor has given Maughan approval to get a driver’s license.

“I’m glad all this trouble is over,” Maughan said Thursday. “I don’t have to worry about much for the rest of my life.”