Settlement eyed in civil suit stemming from Christmas Parade tragedy

Freeman, The (Waukesha, WI)

WAUKESHA — A Waukesha family that sued their insurer and Darrell Brooks Jr. after witnessing the carnage Brooks unleashed at the 2021 Waukesha Christmas Parade is asking a judge to approve a settlement in the civil case they filed three months ago.

Alma Garcia Ramirez and Lucio Hernandez Rubio, as well as their children Ashbel Hernandez and Lucio Hernandez Jr., sued their insurer, Progressive Universal Insurance Co., and Brooks in September, citing "extreme emotional distress, panic attacks, sleep deprivation, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and other damages" experienced by family members.

Six people were killed and more than 60 injured in the incident, which attracted international attention. Brooks is serving multiple life sentences as a result.

Members of the Garcia Ramirez family stood alongside other spectators in parking spaces in the street in front of Divino Gelato Cafe on West Main Street as Brooks drove his SUV at high speed through the crowd, with Garcia Ramirez pulling their children out of the way to avoid being struck by the SUV; Lucio Hernandez Rubio was not at the scene. The family took shelter in the Divino Gelato cafe and heard gunshots fired and "feared for their lives and the lives of their church and school friends who were also in attendance," according to documents in the case.

Progressive issued a policy of automobile insurance to Alma Garcia Ramirez and Lucio Hernandez Rubio that covers uninsured motorists and underinsured motorists. The couple could be compensated $50,000 per person up to $100,000 per occurrence, according to the suit. Brooks was presumed to be uninsured or underinsured.

This month, attorney Jay McDivitt filed a petition for approval of a minor settlement; he represents the children as guardian ad litem, and the parents, as well. In it, he said Progressive agreed to a global settlement of $100,000 — the uninsured motorist limit of the policy — to cover all claims in the case — $33,000 to each child and the rest to the parents, minus attorney fees of 25% and reimbursing their health insurer. The remainder of the children’s settlements — over $23,000 each — will be placed into an interest-bearing account in their name, with the children able to access them once they turn 18, McDivitt’s petition said.

A hearing date on the petition to approve the settlement is set for Jan. 19.

Progressive’s attorney Rick Hills declined to comment Wednesday.

McDivitt said Brooks did not answer the complaint or appear in court with an attorney. He said theoretically the family could pursue further action against Brooks for their claims, but "you’re not going to squeeze any blood from that turnip so there’s no purpose in that," he said.

When asked about how the children are doing, McDivitt said, "Like anyone else who was involved as a close spectator to the event, it traumatized the whole community and anybody that was there. And the people intimately involved in it are going to be dealing with the fallout from that for a long time, if not the balance of their lives."

He said that is why we have insurance — for people to get the help they need and deserve when needed.