Injured Athlete Wins $250,000 Settlement

A jury on Friday awarded $250,000 to a former Cal State Fullerton wrestling star whose Olympic hopes were dashed in a car accident that injured his arm and leg in Anaheim 3 years ago.

Jurors returned the verdict in favor of Daniel R. Coates, 25, of Rialto after hearing 2 weeks of testimony on both the accident in August, 1985, and on Coates’ athletic prowess.

The jury assessed damages against the family of one driver in the collision, Rachel Lara of Anaheim, who was 16 and had just gotten a driver’s license a few months before the crash. Jurors found no blame on the part of a co-defendant in the lawsuit, Lee Whipple of Placentia. Coates was a passenger in Whipple’s car.

Coates’ right arm and leg were crushed in the collision. He testified that he lost mobility and strength in the arm, suffered extensive muscle damage and continues to suffer intense pain.

The former wrestler, who is now a counselor at the Orangewood Children’s Home, the county’s emergency shelter for abandoned or abused youngsters in Orange, said he was disappointed with the jury’s decision--not because of the dollar amount, but because the jury did not also find Whipple, now 23, at fault. Coates was a friend of Whipple and her family at the time of the crash.

Coates said he doubts that he will ever receive the bulk of the award, beyond perhaps the $34,000 that he said he has paid in medical bills since the accident.

The reason, he said, was a limit on Lara’s insurance coverage and her family’s inability to pay the rest of the settlement.

“He will have been hurt very badly and collect very little,” said Michael F. Parr, Coates’ attorney.

The jury found Lara negligent when she made a left turn on Euclid Street at Medical Center Drive and collided with Whipple’s Honda. The Laras were unavailable for comment Friday.

But Parr failed to convince the jury that Whipple contributed to the accident by driving too fast and not paying attention. Had Whipple been found negligent, Parr said, Coates might have been able to collect substantially more of the settlement because of the nature of Whipple’s insurance coverage and personal assets.

Coates, a former Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. wrestling champion in the 190-pound weight class, said he has not wrestled since the accident. He had hoped to make the U.S. Olympic wrestling squad for the recent games in Seoul, and his former coach at Cal State Fullerton said in a recent interview that Coates had had a “good shot” at doing that.

The youth counselor said he now plans to return to school to get a master’s degree in counseling.

“I have no bitter bones. It’s not time for me to second guess,” he said. “It’s time for me to get on with my life and leave wrestling and all this behind.”