CARMEL – A dump truck driver from Cold Spring has settled his multi-million dollar lawsuit against Putnam County for $775,000 stemming from a serious motor vehicle crash in 2021 on Route 301 near the Kent-Putnam Valley Town line. The crash sent an investigator with the Putnam Sheriff’s Office and the Cold Spring man to the hospital with severe injuries.
The crash took place around noontime on May 17 when Putnam County Sheriff’s Investigator William Quick was traveling westbound with lights and siren activated collided with a dump truck driven by the plaintiff, Marc Manzoeillo.
State Police who handled the investigation said the sheriff’s officer passed a vehicle and moved back into the right-hand lane when Manzoeillo, heading east, slammed on the brakes of his dump truck and entered the westbound lane striking the patrol car.
Manzoeillo was ejected from the truck while the officer was pinned in his heavily damaged car.
Manzoeillo was taken by the Philipstown Volunteer Ambulance Corps to Westchester Medical Center while Quick, who was pinned in his wrecked patrol car and was extricated with the Jaws of Life in an operation that took more than 45 minutes, was airlifted to the medical center, where he underwent surgery.
In January 2022, Manzoeillo filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for “severe and permanent personal injuries” as a result of actions he alleges were “negligence, carelessness and recklessness of the Sheriff’s Department and Sgt. Quick.”
After filing the lawsuit in State Supreme Court before Judge Victor Grossman, the county’s insurer, NYMIR, assigned attorney Joseph Randazzo to defend Putnam’s interests.
Following years of litigation, a settlement discussion ensued.
The parties reached an agreement before the scheduled March, 2024 trial.
Randazzo advised that following consultation with NYMIR’s Claims Committee, a decision was reached to settle the matter for up to $850,000 with the county being responsible for $250,000 which was the amount of the county’s deductible.
After further discussion, Manzoeillo and the county agreed to settle the lawsuit for $775,000.
The Putnam Legislature’s Audit Committee approved the settlement at Monday evening’s meeting forwarding the resolution to the full legislature for its ratification on May 7.
Quick retired on disability following the crash and is no longer employed by Putnam County.
At the time of the crash, former Sheriff Robert Langley commended members of the law enforcement community. “The women and men of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department come to work every day with a passion to serve our community and help others. They never know what each day brings nor do they question what it holds for them. Today was just an example of how quickly something can go bad and we pray for our officer and for the driver of the other vehicle that they both have a speedy recovery.”
Emergency responders from both eastern and western Putnam were pressed into action on that spring afternoon while a section of Route 301 was closed to traffic for hours allowing for accident reconstruction.
