CALIFORNIA -- The City Council approved a $325,000 settlement Tuesday for a 7-year-old boy who was badly hurt when a pitbull broke out of a dog run in Memorial Park and bit him on the head.
The attack occurred on Oct. 18, 2010.
It was early in the afternoon on a Sunday. A man court documents name as Jerome Wright, of Las Vegas, was playing with his two dogs in the dog run in Memorial Park, located at 16th Street and Colorado Avenue.
One of the dogs, a pitbull terrier named Monster, got out of the dog run by pushing its way through an unsecured service gate at the opposite end of the run, said Deputy City Attorney Lance Gams.
"The way that the service gate closed, there was a small gap that this dog was able to get through," Gams said. "He got out. There was a boy that was in the ballfield area of Memorial Park with his parents."
The dog attacked the young boy, biting him in the head.
According to the complaint filed against City Hall and Wright, the boy sustained brain damage and neck, back and shoulder injuries as a result of the attack.
The family initially sued for $985,000 to cover past and future medical bills, education costs, therapy and other costs before settling for $325,000, Gams said.
Both sides realized there were "dangers" in taking the case to trial, he said.
The dog involved in the attack was quarantined for 10 days to ensure that it did not have rabies. It and its owner left California for Las Vegas.
It's thought that they moved to Georgia after that, but the City Attorney's Office is not sure, Gams said.
Although Wright does have a default judgment against him in the case, the family did not pursue him further, Gams said.
Brian Nelson, the attorney listed for Wright on court documents, did not return calls for comment.
The case is not quite done.
Although the City Council approved the settlement, the parties must return to court for a judge to sign off on it, Gams said.
(Santa Monica Daily Press - July 26, 2012)
