As a general rule, we look up to the brave men and women who make up our country’s law enforcement agencies. They put their lives on the line on a daily basis in order to protect and to serve the public. Sometimes, however, even with such ideals in place, a law enforcement officer is just as capable of making serious mistakes as anyone else.
A woman has received more than $1 million in the settlement of two related cases for an accident that happened as she was using the crosswalk of Indian School Road in November of 2016.
According to a story which appeared on the AZ Central website, Lilia M. Alvarado was struck by a police cruiser being driven by Officer Seth S. Castillo who was making a left hand turn. Castillo struck Alvarado as she was crossing the intersection.
Alvarado was left with multiple fractures from the accident including a hip, eight of her ribs, nose, a ruptured spleen and a bruised lung along with other accident related injuries. The multiple serious injuries Alvarado suffered as the result of the accident totaled to more than $236,000 in hospital bills and medical expenses. She filed suit against the Phoenix Police Department and the City of Phoenix.
The Phoenix City Council approved $600,000 as part of Alvarado’s settlement on Wednesday, February 20th.
A spokesman for Phoenix Police Department, Sgt. Vince Lewis, would not comment about the settlement that the city had made. Lewis did state that Officer Castillo had been disciplined for not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.
