Investigators say that an investigation into what caused yesterday’s train derailment of a CSX Corp. freight train in Oneida, New York could take up to 18 months. An Associated Press story details that the freight train traveling from Buffalo to Selkirk was carrying liquid propane and other chemicals through Oneida when 28 of its 80 cars derailed at seven in the morning on Monday. The derailment sent a huge fireball into the sky, causing propane tankers to burn throughout the morning and forcing people to evacuate their homes. No personal injuries have been reported at this time.

Oneida Fire Chief Don Hudson said that two cars containing liquid propane exploded and burned out while two other tankers of liquid petroleum and a fifth rail car with the solvent toluene burned. Officials declared a state of emergency for a half-mile area around the accident, which was expected to affect eight homes. Officials also evacuated various areas a mile around the accident, including most of downtown Oneida, which has a population of 10,000.

The story also detailed that up to 4,000 people live in the affected area and that evacuation was mandatory only for those homes closest to the blast. Around 100 people reported to a local shelter while local jail officials had to move 78 prisoners to a jail in nearby Chenango County. Four firefighters were exposed to liquid chloride and had to be decontaminated before going back to fight the blaze.

Federal Railroad Administration investigators were quickly at the scene to examine potential causes for the derailment. CSX spokesman Maurice O’Connell was described as saying that drug tests will be performed on the engineer and that the train’s black boxes would be analyzed. Another company spokesman, Robert Sullivan, said that CSX has specialists dealing with the hazardous chemicals and was committed to meet the needs of displaced residents.

The train derailment caused two elementary schools to close for the day, stalled train service and shut down a section of the state’s Thruway for about four hours. A cause of this train derailment has yet to be determined.

Did you know that March has been christened Brain Injury Awareness Month? With that in mind, a U.S. Senator from Utah has recently introduced a head trauma bill reauthorizing a federal law supporting programs for people with traumatic brain injuries, or TBI. More than 5.3 million Americans suffer from TBI, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, with most of those personal injuries occurring during falls or car accidents.

U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah introduced a new head trauma bill last Wednesday to the Senate. Co-sponsored with U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, this legislation would allocate money for services for people affected by brain injuries, fund projects for injured veterans, and help states develop treatment capacity for these injuries. This federal head trauma legislation would also put the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in charge of determining how common TBI is in the general population. Hatch and Kennedy sponsored the original TBI legislation in 1996.

Around two percent of the U.S. population requires lifelong or long-term care for a brain injury. According to a statistic cited in a Utah Daily Herald story, 67 percent of Iraq casualties involved some level of brain injury. Hatch said that this legislation would help provide resources for networks which treat returning soldiers. He added that the overall goal of this bill is to help patients get the best possible care early on so they may recover from their brain injuries.

In addition to Hatch’s efforts in the nation’s Capitol, Utah state legislators have already tried to achieve similar means this year. State Representative James Gowans and Senator Darin Petersen tried to secure $500,000 for a Traumatic Brain Injury Fund which would help establish outreach programs for TBI and help train medical professionals in treating this condition. However, this legislation stalled in the Utah Legislature last month for the second year in a row.

The city of Oakland has agreed to pay $40,000 as part of a personal injury settlement to the family of a renowned drummer and dancer in the city who was killed by a drunken driver nearly four years ago. Malonga Casquelourd died in June 2003 when a vehicle driven by Martin Burgermeyer and going the wrong way on Lakeshore Avenue slammed head-on into his car. At the time of the deadly accident, Burgermeyer’s blood alcohol content was three times the legal 0.08 percent limit in California. Casquelourd’s family claimed in their personal injury suit that a confusing street sign near the avenue contributed to the accident. An InsideBayArea.com story detailed that the city has since removed the sign.

Burgermeyer pleaded no contest to charges which included gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated before being sentenced to four years in prison in October 2004. Burgermeyer’s insurance company will pay the $50,000 limit of his policy to the Casquelourd family for its part of the combined $90,000 settlement.

Malonga Casquelourd was an internationally-known Congolese dancer who dedicated his life to promoting African Culture in the East Bay, according to the story. The Alice Arts Center was renamed in Casquelourd’s honor after his death.

The Pittsburghc City Council tentatively approved a $200,000 police brutality settlement yesterday involving an off-duty police sergeant’s 2004 actions at a hot dog shop. Deven W. Werling had filed a federal personal injury lawsuit in which he alleged that Sergeant Mark A. Eggleton roughed him up at the Original Hot Dog Shop in Oakland, Pennsylvania, according to a story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Coming to this tentative approval was not without controversy for several reasons. To begin with, the city councilmen debated whether this decision on the settlement should be debated in public, considering the strange circumstances surrounding Eggleton. After the Pittsburgh Office of Municipal Investigations found that Sgt. Eggleton contradicted himself under oath, he was fired. This dismissal was reduced to a five-day suspension last October, and Eggleton has since returned to his job as a police sergeant. While Pennsylvania state law does allow governmental bodies to discuss personnel matters and legal settlements behind closed doors, Councilman William Peduto argued that Eggleton’s situation was not an executive session manner and should thus be decided in public. The council then voted 7-1 to tentatively approve the personal injury settlement, with Peduto the lone dissenter. The final approval could come this Tuesday, according to the story.

Peduto also used this case to review the city’s practice of allowing private businesses to hire off-duty police officers. While the Original Hot Dog Shop had to pay Eggleton close to $40 an hour per hour for this off-duty work, it does not have to pay the city any money. This has caused concern since the city has to pay when its officers are sued for actions occurring when working off-duty jobs. After shelving a plan for the city to charge businesses $4 or $5 an hour to employ off-duty cops in November, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has said that he will introduce a new plan this April, according to the story. Of further interest, Peduto is running against Ravenstahl in the city’s May 15th Democratic primary.

The widow of a Columbia, South Carolina municipal worker who was killed in a 2005 car accident has been awarded a $1.3 wrongful death settlement, according to a story in the Columbia Tribune. Regina Greenplate’s husband Clay died after a late November 2005 head-on collision in which Martha Miller’s SUV crossed into the path of his vehicle. Tests later revealed that Miller’s blood alcohol content (BAC) was above the legal 0.08 percent limit in the state, and Miller was sentenced to 10 years in prison last year after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

On Monday, a judge officially approved this personal injury settlement for the wrongful death of Clay Greenplate, who worked at the Columbia wastewater treatment plant. According to its terms, Regina Greenplate will receive $510,066.82, and each of the couple’s four children will get $90,000 to purchase an annuity to pay for college expenses. The remaining money will go to attorney fees. Attorneys for Regina Greenplate and the insurance company declined comment on the case.

When Miller pleaded guilty in February 2006, Regina Greenplate detailed the pain that the accident had caused her family during a victim impact statement. The story detailed Greenplate as saying that her husband was her “soul mate” and that Miller had ripped her heart. Upon entering her guilty plea, Miller said that she wished she could change what happened and expressed her remorse for the accident.

As previously detailed at The Injury Blog, a West Virginia bill striving to reduce ATV accidents and personal injuries by bolstering ATV safety was dealt a tough blow by state senators last week. According to an Associated Press story in the Charleston Daily Mail, West Virginia senators blocked this bill banning ATV use on open roads and passengers from riding on these vehicles unless allowed by the manufacturer out of a concern that the bill would infringe on private property rights.

Specifically, the Senate did not vote on this West Virginia ATV accidents bill last Tuesday. According to the story, the powerful Rules Committee essentially left this bill in neutral by voting to take it off the upper chamber’s calendar. In other words, without reaching a space on the calendar, this bill will not be voted on by the Senate. In order for this ATV accidents legislation to be brought back, a vote by two-thirds of the Senate or a special Rules Committee meeting will be required.

West Virginia Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin essentially described the bill as being “probably dead” in the story. He added that some senators thought the bill was too restrictive and would criminalize ATV users on their own property. This West Virginia ATV accidents bill would have also added the creation of a single form for police to report ATV accidents and track comprehensive data. Tomblin said that senators were not concerned with this aspect of the bill, which he said could return in time.

This bill was prompted in large part by disturbing statistics for West Virginia ATV-related deaths in 2006. According to the AP story, at least 53 people were killed in West Virginia ATV accidents last year. This number was not only a state record but also the highest per-capital death toll in the country.

In a related and tragic story, a man who was interviewed about this West Virginia ATV accidents bill in late February by a local television station was killed in an ATV accident last week. Homer Williams talked to WSAZ-3 in a February 22^nd story about how this ATV bill banning open road use would leave him with no transportation. With that said, Williams’ family said that he died last Thursday morning in an ATV accident. The family said that Williams was found dead on the side of the road with his ATV nearby. Watch the February story including Williams’ comments about this West Virginia ATV accidents bill right here (Windows Media Player is Required), and stay updated on the latest developments on this and all other ATV legislation at The Injury Blog.

An Edgewater, Colorado man and his neighbors are claiming police brutality after the man was arrested last Thursday night following an argument with his girlfriend, and a videotape of the arrest provides a disturbing look at the incident. According to a Fox 31 online story, Farouk Kigozi and his girlfriend Sara Alexander were arguing so loud that a neighbor called police. Alexander claimed that Kigozi was compliant with police requests before an officer twisted his arm and threw him to the ground. After hearing cries of pain outside, a neighbor videotaped the incident, which he says corroborated the claims of police brutality.

The frightening video shows Kigozi on the ground as a police officer repeatedly punches him in the face. In addition to his audible screams, Kigozi is heard telling the officer to not hit him. The male neighbor, whose name or face was not shown in the Fox 31 story, described the incident as being “out of line” and what he would call police brutality. Specifically, he said that Kigozi was handcuffed with his stomach on the ground while one police officer continued to unnecessarily use excessive force and another one held him on the ground.

Kigozi admitted in the story that he had too much to drink on the night of the incident. However, he says that the police had him handcuffed and should have taken him to jail immediately, but rather began hitting him in the face. A day after the incident, Kigozi claimed that the whole left side of his face was still hurting. He did not comment on whether any other personal injuries were sustained in the story.

According to documents in the story, Kigozi was taken to the hospital on the night of his arrest by police. Doctors wrote that he was seen for assault. Kigozi was cited by police officers for failure to obey, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. An Edgewater police spokesman refused a detailed comment in the Fox 31 story on the way the officers handled the arrest but did say that it was part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

Kigozi, who came to the United States six years ago from Uganda, was described in the story as saying that he would never expect such a thing to happen to him in America. The story did not detail whether Kigozi plans to file a personal injury lawsuit.

Watch the video of this alleged case of police brutality (please be aware that the video contains footage which should not be viewed by children). Of other interest, this incident occurred two days before the 16^th Anniversary of the Rodney King beating on March 3, 1991. Read more about the King beating and the subsequent L.A. riots at The Velvet Goldmine blog.

A New York woman who suffered neck and back injuries in a car accident two years ago has recently settled her personal injury lawsuit for $300,000. Julia Baldari was a passenger in a Jeep when it was involved in an accident in April 2005, according to a story in the Staten Island Advance. Specifically, Baldari suffered herniated neck and back discs which eventually required surgery when a Ford SUV driven by Thomas E. Roberts went through a stop sign and struck the Jeep.

Baldari originally sued Roberts and the owner of the SUV, Betsy Pabicon, whose insurance policy limit for such accidents was $50,000. Baldari and her personal injury attorney, Michael H. Bush, then filed an underinsurance claim with her auto insurance carrier. Underinsurance allows an injured party to seek damages from his or her insurance company when exceeding the coverage limits of the liable party. According to Bush, an arbitrator awarded Baldari the additional $250,000, which he said was the maximum she could receive on her underinsurance claim.

This case provides another example of the importance of having an experienced personal injury attorney on your side! While personal injury claims can get quite complicated, a local personal injury will have the expertise to proceed with such actions and help you have the best chance of receiving any damages that you may entitled to!

The borough of Seaside Park has agreed to a combined $600,000 personal injury settlement with three people who claimed police brutality following an arrest occurring more than two years ago. Jose Roman, Melanie Bruno and Melissa Bruno had alleged that they were the victims of police brutality after being arrested on November 22, 2004 at the Saw Mill Tavern, according to a story in the Asbury Park Press.

This police brutality settlement ended a civil trial which was in its second phase. Last month, a jury had rejected two allegations of excessive force, but did find that other allegations of excessive force and falsifying a police record were valid. According to the plaintiffs’ personal injury attorney, Kevin McCann, the three plaintiffs will split the settlement money.

This case is not the first time that Seaside Park police offers have been accused of brutality. An Asbury Park Press story in May 2006 detailed a former Seaside Park dispatcher’s allegations that several officers regularly used unnecessary force on suspects, and even bragged about their actions while higher-ranking officers looked the other way. Barbara Kierney said in the story that such Seaside Park police brutality incidents were so common that they all blended together.

According to the May 2006 story, Kierney’s accusations prompted a request for an internal affairs investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office. According to the office at that time, nine internal-affairs investigations of Seaside Park officers had been conducted since the beginning of 2003 to August 12, 2005. None of those investigations led to any criminal charges of police brutality.

Kierney described one alleged incident in which a Seaside Park police officer bragged about ripping the earring out of the ear of Sean Foley while he was in custody. Foley filed a personal injury lawsuit last in July of 2005 against the Seaside Park Police Department and the borough. Foley claimed that Seaside Park police officers beat him while he was in custody. We’ll keep you updated on any developments in this Seaside Park case and any other police brutality cases.

A Florida woman who suffered brain damage in a 2003 car accident has settled her personal injury lawsuit for $1.65 million, according to her lawyer in a Bradenton Herald story. Kathy Dearmin was driving home from the gym in September 2003 when a driver of a commercial hauling track ran through a red light and slammed into the side of her car. Dearmin was immediately airlifted to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, where she remained in a coma for five weeks. Personal injury attorney, Steve Wittmer, said that Dearmin’s brain injuries were so severe that she now requires a live-in caretaker.

Following Dearmin’s personal injuries, a judge declared her legally incapacitated and appointed a guardian to assist her. Wittmer said that his client is now undergoing occupational, speech and behavioral therapy. Prior to the accident, Dearmin was a former emergency room nurse at Sarasota Memorial Hospital.

Dearmin’s attorney had filed suit against the truck’s driver and owner in February 2004. This car accident settlement was reached weeks before the Bradenton trial was scheduled to begin. Wittmer said in the story that the majority of Dearmin’s funds were put into an annuity which will pay her monthly and allow her to receive the daily care and medical treatment necessary for the rest of her life.

Two Nebraska personal injury lawsuits filed against a drunk driver who seriously injured two men have reached undisclosed, out-of-court settlements. Plaintiffs Bryan J. Klimek and Brady Vanicek suffered serious personal injuries during a January 2003 car accident in which Vanicek’s vehicle was hit by a speeding pickup truck driven by Zachary Leach. Court documents detailed that Leach’s blood alcohol content level was 0.219 at the time of the accident, according to a story in the Grand Island Independent. It is illegal to be operating a motor vehicle with a BAC of 0.08 percent or higher in Nebraska.

Klimek and Vanicek both filed their own personal injury lawsuits against Leach and his employer Fortec LLC, which owned the pickup truck. According to his personal injury lawsuit, Vanicek suffered a traumatic brain injury, lacerated spleen, aortic tear, and fractured pelvis and rib. By the time he filed suit in November 2005, his medical bills were slightly more than $200,000.

Klimek was a passenger in Vanicek’s 1994 Pontiac Grand Prix during the accident, which threw him from the back seat of the car. In addition to a traumautic brain injury, Klimek alleged in his December 2005 lawsuit that he sustained fractures and post traumatic vision syndrome which led to permanent vision changes. His medical bills at the time of his suit were more than $120,000.

Leach, who was not injured, was found to be driving more than 50 mph in a 25 mph zone at the time of the accident. He was convicted of felony operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol causing serious bodily injury and sentenced to probation, which he was accused of violating in April 2006 for a second DUI offense and marijuana possession. Leach was also ordered to pay $4,330 restitution to Klimek, $1,000 restitution to Vanicek and $631 to Grant Hansen, who was also in the Grand Prix and suffered minor injuries. Klimek and Vanicek were 16 years old and Hansen 15 at the time of the accident.