Legal Question in Personal Injury in New Jersey
An incident that happened 7/25/10. My ex girlfriend was driving her convertible, with the top down, with Me, her male cousin and a friend. I was sitting in the back passenger seat and her cousin was sitting behind the driver. I was intoxicated and getting a ride home from Seaside, NJ. I was passed out, and awoke to hear all of them talking about me in a negative way. I overhead it when i woke up and confronted the male sitting next to me. We exchanged words and threats of phyisical nature towards each other. My ex girlfriend started screaming "stop, stop!" so i said "pull over so we can fight". She then pulled over on the shoulder of route 33. I then punched the male sitting next to me in the face while still in the car. He grabbed his face and i went to get out. The car is a 2 door so i was going over the side. I had put my right leg over the side when my ex put the car in drive and started to pull off. My foot had been under the tire and she ended up running over my foot and ankle. My leg snapped and the bone was popped out. She then stopped the car, put it in park , got out, ran over to me and punched me in my nose. I was laying on the ground with my bone completely out and my foot facing the wrong way. She then got back in her car and pulled off. I layed there for about 20 minutes before a car saw me and stopped to call the police. I was bleeding really bad and could not move. The ambulance took me to the hospital where they performed surgery and i have an external fixator. I broke my fibula tibula and ankle bones along with ligament damage. It was a stage 3 compound fracture. They put pins in my ankle and i still have the external fixator holding my leg bones in place. I have now been in the hospital for 2 weeks. The cops had asked me as was intoxicated and in the ER what had happened.I told them everything besides the fact i had punched the other male before i was getting out. They ended up charging her with aggravated assault and simple assault and she was arrested and made bail. I have never spoken to the cops again, but apparenlty there is still an investigation and i may be charged with simple assault as well. I wanted to know if there was anyway i can sue her or her insurance. There was no accident report, because they said it was not an accident and it was a criminal investigation. I do believe however that it was an accident. She did not mean to run me over. She was just trying to leave and may not have realized i was not out of the car completely. The doctors say it will be a long time for me to ever walk normal again and it will be a while before i can ever drive. I think she should have been charged with Simple assault and hit and run or leaving the scene of an accident. The aggravated assault i think she was wrongly charged. Please any advice would be great as i have missed work and my job requires me to drive. My hospital bills are racking up and at this point i am using charity care.
4 Answers from Attorneys
You need to handle that criminal charge as soon as possible. Call me anytime at 732/773/2768 to discuss further.
You certainly have the right to pursue a case against her for the injuries you sustained. Although there is no insurance coverage for an intentional act, I doubt that she intentionally ran over your foot. I would be glad to discuss pursing a negligence case against her. I have been representing injured clients for 25 years. Feel free to call.
First, you need to deal with the criminal matter as soon as possible. Secondly, you likely have a case against the driver of the motor vehicle or even some other parties for your injuries. We handle both criminal and civil cases. Feel free to contact our office to discuss.
I was sorry to learn that you suffered from such a serious injury. It is possible that you might be able to pursue an action against the driver and/or car's owner. We'd need additional information in order to evaluate your potential claim. We have handled thousands of motor vehicle accident related claims. Please feel free to contact me or any of my partners at the Blume Goldfaden Firm via the profile information provided on this site. We look forward to speaking with you, and will assist you in any way we can.
Michael B. Zerres
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