Poway

A motorcyclist won what is reportedly one of the biggest personal injury judgments in San Diego County history when a Superior Court jury on Friday awarded him a $6.4-million verdict against a Lakeside construction firm.

Jimmy Ogden, 20, was injured the night of Aug. 17, 1988, when the motorcycle on which he was a passenger veered out of control after striking an 8,000-pound hunk of concrete left by construction workers along Poway Road.

Ham Brothers Construction Co. of Lakeside was the defendant in the suit that was tried before Superior Court Judge Carlos Cazares and a jury.

Attorneys alleged that the company, which had been contracted to perform road repairs along the busy suburban thoroughfare, did not follow city-mandated safety precautions.

Browne Greene, an attorney representing Ogden, said the motorcycle driven by Dale Butts of Poway struck the hunk of concrete that workers had left unmarked along the road’s shoulder.

Ogden, whose injuries required brain surgery, is permanently disabled and has moved back to live with his parents in St. Louis, Greene said. Butts was not severely injured.

“Mr. Ogden walks and talks but he’s got the capacity of a 12-year-old,” the attorney said. “He can’t be independent. He can’t hold down a job. He wanders off and gets frequently distracted.”