Air Force Captain Struck by Gas Truck Reaches $46 Million Settlement Against SoCalGas
By Debbie Gregory.
Air Force Captain Jason Lo was awarded nearly $41.9 million in his negligence lawsuit against SoCalGas, after being struck by one of the company’s trucks. The award does not including punitive damages.
Lo nearly died after being struck by the truck driven by employee Dominick Consolazio in Hawthorne, CA on February 13, 2017. The accident occurred when Consolazio suffered a seizure and struck Lo on his motorcycle as he was waiting at a red light.
According to the lawsuit, Lo was wedged underneath the front end of the gas company truck, which came to a stop at the intersection for 23 seconds. When Consolazio regained consciousness, he dragged Lo 430 feet as he attempted to flee the accident and get on the freeway.
Witnesses got out of their cars and blocked Consolazio’s path until the police arrived and arrested him on the spot. He pleaded no contest to felony hit-and-run causing injury, and was sentenced to five year’s probation and community service.
The lawsuit alleged Consolazio and SoCalGas should have known he was unfit to work as a driver because he suffered from epilepsy and continued to have seizures despite taking medication, including one six weeks before the collision. Supervisors also knew Consolazio went on disability leave for six months and had his driver’s license suspended following a severe seizure in 2012, not long after he worked 79 hours of overtime for the company in one week, according to the lawsuit.
Captain Lo lost 40 percent of his blood and spent close to a month in the hospital, nearly losing his life and his leg. Lo underwent multiple surgeries, and his leg remains severely disfigured and is still at risk of amputation.
“The Lo family will live with this tragedy for the rest of their lives,” said Lo’s attorney, Brian Panish. “The settlement reached by the parties after the jury’s substantial verdict will enable this young couple to move forward, build a family and get Captain Lo the medical care he will need in the future.”
