MIDDLETOWN – An Orange County jury
has found the owners of a strip mall in Middletown responsible for causing
an accident in which a 67-year-old Middletown woman was severely injured
when an SUV drove over her.
The accident occurred on June 2, 2011.
The owners of Campbell Plaza had reconfigured the parking lot in 2010
based on approval from the Middletown City Planning Board.
The woman’s attorney, Patrick Owen, proved at trial that the shopping
center owners had misaligned the intersection where the accident occurred,
causing the SUV driver to stop, but not in a proper position from which
to make his turn.
The approved reconfiguration of the parking lot took into account only
80 percent of the parking lot, leaving the remaining 20 percent untouched,
leading to the misconfiguration.
The jury found the plaza owners 80 percent responsible for causing the
accident, the SUV driver 15 percent at fault and the pedestrian five percent.
A new jury will be selected to try damages.
