Redlands, developer and contractor agree to $2.25 million personal injury settlement

Sep. 11--A 2015 incident in which a car and its driver dropped into a ditch in the roadway and flipped over has led Redlands, a developer and a contractor to recently OK a $2.25 million settlement to be paid by insurance companies.

According to the original complaint by Mark Digiacinto, filed in 2017 in San Bernardino Superior Court, he was driving east on Lugonia Avenue at 4:03 a.m. Dec. 29, 2015, in an area marked by construction cones. When the cones ended on the right side he moved right, then felt his car "drop off" into the 2-foot deep ditch before it overturned. In the complaint, he said he suffered serious neck and back injuries.

The city, developer Hillwood Construction Services of California LP, and contractor A Cone Zone Inc. were named as defendants.

According to cross-complaints and other court documents, the city said Hillwood, which was building several large warehouse projects in the area, had control of the location and that Cone Zone was in charge of traffic-control design plans where the crash occurred.

Cone Zone said in court documents it placed the cones before the ditch was dug, and that it had "no duty to maintain the traffic control devices unless Hillwood called out Cone Zone to do so." It also said the city never found the traffic control plan to be unsatisfactory.

Cone Zone also said several other drivers had driven into the open excavation the week before Digiacinto's crash, but it was never made aware of any of those until after the plaintiff's incident.

City spokesman Carl Baker said in an email that he could not immediately tell if any of the other drivers sued the city.

Digiacinto had been asking for past and future medical expenses, lost earnings, non-economic damages such as pain and mental suffering, and more, though no dollar amount was in the complaint or an amended complaint.

A jury trial had been set for October.

According to the August settlement, companies insuring Redlands and Hillwood would pay $2.1 million of the settlement, and two insurance companies for Cone Zone would contribute the rest. The money is going to Digiacinto and his lawyer.

In an email Baker said "there is no taxpayer liability" because the settlement is being paid by the insurers.

The parties are releasing all claims against each other.

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