LOS ANGELES : City to Pay $500,000 to Woman Hit by Parks Truck
The Los Angeles City Council approved a $500,000 settlement Tuesday for an elderly woman who was hit by a parks truck while in a crosswalk.
Soon Bok Kim, 77, needs a walker and cannot rise or sit without help. She will require around-the-clock attendant care as she ages, said a gerontologist and a physical therapist.
“A jury would probably find the city of Los Angeles liable for the accident,” according to a report written by Deputy City Atty. Theodore Heyck. “In view of the plaintiff’s injuries, a jury could return a verdict in excess of the proposed settlement.”
Kim was crossing Western Avenue at 1st Street in Koreatown on Dec. 16, 1991, when Elbert Johnson, a locksmith in the Recreation and Parks Department, drove through the intersection.
The driver claimed that Kim ran into the intersection against a “walk” signal, but a witness said Johnson was trying to beat a yellow light when the accident occurred.
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