MIDDLETOWN – An Orange County jury 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 determine damages.