It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon when Joe Minnitti was riding his Harley Davidson from his parents house, to the video store. Maple Hill Road in Naugatuck is one of those pretty twisting ribbons of road that are enjoyable on a motorcycle even at low rates of speed. "I never saw the truck until I came over the crest of the rise and there it was. I was practically on top of it when I saw it, and when I slammed on my brakes, the bike skidded sideways right into the bumper. The next thing I knew I was flat on my back with the motorcycle on top of me and my back hurt real bad." said Joe.
What Joe didn't know was that a German Shepherd dog from the neighborhood had been standing in the road and the pickup truck had come to an abrupt stop to avoid the dog. It was the worst possible location. At that particular spot on Maple Hill Road, the road curved as it fell away from the rise, creating an absolutely blind condition. Just fifty feet in either direction and Joe would have had a clear view of the road ahead. Connecticut law states that the owner of a dog is liable for any injury caused by the dog. Joe Minnitti's injuries were severe and his losses exceeded the limits of insurance carried by the owner of the truck. Besides, the dog was a greater contributor to the accident than the pickup truck.
The attorneys at the Haymond Law Firm decided to name the dog's owner as a defendant. The trouble was that the dog's owner denied that it was his dog, even though a witness to the accident saw the dog in front of the house and the dog's owner was asleep at the time. The witness said that when he tried to approach the house to use the phone to call police, the dog barked protectively.
The owner insisted that he only had one dog and that his dog was in the house. In fact, an investigation revealed that the owner had two dogs at the time and apparently had one of them put to sleep, perhaps in an attempt to avoid responsibility!
The veterinarian who killed the dog reported to the attorney that there was nothing wrong with the dog. The dog's owner also claimed that there were many stray German Shepherd dogs in the neighborhood, but an investigation of the town's records revealed that there was not a single one. A great deal of investigation work went into this case, explained John Haymond, and our success is directly attributable to the painstaking thoroughness of these investigations.
We stalked and photographed the dog roaming the neighborhood in violation of the law and contrary to the owner's claims. Finally, just prior to jury selection, the attorneys for the dog's owner and the owner of the pickup truck agreed to a settlement in the amount of $238,000. Today Joseph Minnitti, age 25, is fully recovered and back at work as an entrepreneu. He operates a hot dog stand in Naugatuck where customers line up for his famous bacon-and-cheese dog. Joe says his accident affected him deeply - as did the settlement money he received which enabled him to pursue his long-time ambition to be a hot dog vendor.
I appreciate the little things in life now, he said, adding that he quit his job at Sikorsky Aircraft Inc. to sell hot dogs in Naugatuck. I really love dealing with people and being outdoors.
*Some names and details have been changed to protect confidentiality. While we can't guarantee the same results; we can assure you the same effort.