Motorcyclist who lost leg wins $28-million verdict after suing over L.A. firetruck crash

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Set us as preferred A Los Angeles jury awarded $28 million to a motorcyclist whose leg was crushed by a city firetruck, the latest eye-popping sum carved out of city coffers for alleged reckless driving by a city employee.Robert Danbom was heading northbound on Vermont Avenue in East Hollywood on Sept.2, 2021, when a city firetruck traveling west appeared abruptly in his path.Danbom, who had the green light, claimed in his lawsuit he had just a few seconds to react before an inevitable crash.

His Harley-Davidson went flying as he fell under the wheels of the 65,000-pound truck, dislocating his shoulder and disfiguring his leg, which was later amputated below his knee.“LAFD’s massive fire tender failed to follow basic safety standards in failing to stop, or even slow, the massive vehicle down before entering a very busy intersection,” the lawsuit alleged.Filippo Marchino, an attorney with the X-Law Group who represented Danbom, said he believed the $28-million payout, awarded Aug.13, was the largest verdict in California stemming from a below-the-knee amputation.

But it didn’t need to be, he noted.He would have happily taken half of what the jury gave him, he said.“But there was zero engagement with the city attorney’s office,” he said.

“These people don’t realize it’s not their money, it’s the city’s money, it’s the taxpayers’ money.It’s offensive because cases like ours could have been settled for significantly less than what the verdict is.”According to the driver manual for city firefighters presented to the jury, “the first apparatus in a convoy shall stop at all red lights and stop signs.” Video from the scene shows the truck moving through the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Vermont without stopping.“If you sat through our trial, you’d be like, ‘These guys are high,’�...