MARCH 12, 1997

THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT ARCHIVES

CRASH VICTIM WILL GET $2.9 MILLION FROM BEACH

Published: Wednesday, March 12, 1997
Section: LOCAL, page B1
Correction appears at end of story
Source: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER

©1997 Landmark Communications, Inc.

A gardener whose face was crushed then rebuilt, after a 1993 accident with a Virginia Beach police car will receive $2.9 million from the city over the next 40 years.

The City Council, in a closed-door session Tuesday, approved the out-of-court settlement, believed to be the biggest the city has every paid.

The agreement will cost the city $1.425 million in cash, with some of the money to be paid now and the rest to be invested and paid in monthly installments over 40 years.

The victim, Daniel Hoosack of Norfolk, now 31, suffered brain damage and had his face rebuilt with plates and screws after the crash. It happened New Year's Eve 1993 on Laskin Road, near Hilltop.

A lawsuit against the police car driver, Officer Sean R. Coerse, was set to be tried next month in Circuit Court.

Instead, the City Counsel agreed Tuesday to pay Hoosack $714,000 immediately to put another $711,000 in an annuity that will pay Hoosack an additional $2.2 million over the next 40 years, in monthly installments.

"It takes care of Danny Hoosack for the rest of his life, and that's the idea," said Hoosack's attorney, John W. Drescher. "He really wants to put this behind him."

"This is a big dollar amount," agreed Assistant City Attorney Richard J. Beaver, in what is otherwise a routine traffic case. "This guy was pretty badly injured in this collision."

On one other point there is no dispute: The crash was caused by a police officer who wasn't paying attention to where he was driving. "Liability was never an issue," Drescher said Tuesday.

Beaver agreed: "We didn't have a whole lot to say about liability."

The accident happened at 9:30 p.m. as Hoosack was riding home from a New Year's Eve party in a friend's car, Drescher said. The car stopped at a corner on Laskin road near Hilltop. A police cruiser going 40 or 45 mph then rammed into the rear of the car.

Hoosack, in the front passenger seat, slammed face-first into the windshield. The impact shattered his face bones and caused brain damage, Drescher said.

Hoosack spent several weeks in a hospital, his face rebuilt with plates and screws. It took several operations, Drescher said. Hoosack still cannot go outside on cold days because it causes pain in his face and heard, the lawyer said.

A police investigation showed that Coerse, the police officer, was not paying attention while driving. He was on the force three years before the accident. He was not suspended and is still a patrol officer, Beaver said.

Hoosack was a gardener before the accident, but hasn't worked since. He recently got a part-time gardening job at Norfolk Botanical Garden, Drescher said. He will start when warm weather arrives.

Hoosack could not be reached to comment about the accident or the settlement. His father said he was unavailable.

The out-of-court settlement was reached last week and approved Tuesday by the City Counsel. There was no public discussion or public vote. The city did, however, discuss the settlement after the council meeting.

The money will be paid from the city's self-insurance pool, a reserve set aside every year to pay for such claims. Virginia Beach, like many major cities has no liability insurance. It has been self-insured since 1986.

The Hoosack case recalls the last big out-of-court settlement by Virginia Beach: a 1987 head-on car crash caused by then-Commonwealth's Attorney Paul A. Sciortino.

In that case, the city paid $950,000 to the victim, a Yorktown man who suffered a torn aorta and other internal injuries.

Sciortion was driving to a prosecutors conference in Richmond when his car crossed the median of Interstate 64 in Hampton and hit an oncoming car.

Later, he was convicted of improper driving.

A controversy erupted when the city tried to keep the Sciortino settlement secret.

The agreement was reached privately by attorneys for Sciortino and the crash victim, and it required confidentiality. City Councilwoman Reba McClanan, however, decided that was unfair to taxpayers and revealed the settlement publicly.

A week later, the City Council adopted a new policy that requires a public vote for any settlement over $100,000. There was no such vote Tuesday, but Beaver said that that policy did not apply to the Hoosack case because it was a lawsuit already pending in court. The policy applies only to claims made against the city before being filed in court, he said.

Correction:

Daniel Hoosack, who won a $2.9 million out-of-court settlement Tuesday from Virginia Beach, was a back-seat passenger who smashed his face on the front seat in an accident with a police car. It was incorrectly reported Wednesday that Hoosack was a front seat passenger who smashed his face on the windshield.

Correction published Thursday, March 13, 1997

Description of illustration(s):
THE ACCIDENT

The 1993 accident happened as Daniel Hoosack was riding home from a NewYear's Eve party in a friend's car. The car stopped at a corner on Laskin road near Hilltop. A police cruiser than rammed into the rear of the car. Hoosack, in the front passenger seat, slammed face-first into the windshield.

THE SETTLEMENT

Virginia Beach City Council agreed to pay Hoosack $714,000 immediately and put another $711,000 in an annuity that will pay him an additional $2.2 million over the next 40 years, in monthly installments.

This article is ©1997 Landmark Communications, Inc., and may not be republished without permission. If you have questions or comments about the archives, please send us feedback.

Awarded: $2,900,000