 |
| stadiumparkingguides.com |
Article thanks to Michael Bodley and sfgate.com. Links provided:
Jan, 2017 A 73-year-old truck driver who was shot near the Oakland Coliseum while sleeping in his cab has sued the stadium authority for alleged negligence, claiming security personnel wouldn’t let him spend the night in the safety of the stadium complex’s parking lot.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday in Alameda County Superior Court, Jerry Lloyd Matson of Indiana says he was accustomed to spending the night in the Coliseum’s fenced lot when he made regular deliveries to the sports complex.
He would sleep in the lot, then make his deliveries in the morning, Matson said. That meant he didn’t have to doze off in the “high-crime area” around the Coliseum, the suit says.
But on Dec. 15, 2015, Matson said, security personnel “were adamant” in refusing to let him into the lot so he could make a nighttime delivery during a concert.
When Matson asked where he should park and sleep, the lawsuit says, the guards directed him to the west side of Interstate 880, across from the stadium and Oracle Arena.
Later that night, Matson awoke to banging on the door of his tractor and then the smash of the driver’s window, the lawsuit says. Matson said he jumped up to confront the intruder, and when he did, he was shot in the abdomen and seriously injured. No one has been arrested.
Because Matson had previously “reasonably relied” on the Coliseum staff to let him sleep in their parking lot, the lawsuit says, the stadium authority negligently exposed him to danger when the guards didn’t let him in.
The suit seeks compensatory damages for Matson, who said he lost wages and the use of his truck. It also seeks reimbursement for his hospital and medical expenses.
His attorney, Nick Casper, said in an interview that Matson had been in the hospital for at least a month and couldn’t work for a year after that. He’s now driving again but still has pain and can’t drive “quite as far,” Casper said.
A spokesman for the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority did not respond to a request for comment.
Michael Bodley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @michael_bodley
No comments:
Post a Comment