East Haven Mayor Maturo Car Accident Has Court Date Scheduled

EAST HAVEN, CT - Those who are waiting to see how a car accident case involving Mayor Joseph Maturo, Jr. turns out in court are going to have to be patient.

The case has been scheduled for trial - 15 months from now - April 29th of 2020.

The mayor and the town are being sued in Superior Court by Michael Schuler, who is seeking more than $15,000 for injuries he said he incurred when his vehicle was struck by Maturo's in January of 2018.

In a letter to the court clerk filed by Schuler's lawyer on May 18th of this year, it said Schuler sustained "injuries to his head, neck, left wrist, chest, and back. He sustained a lost of consciousness at the scene of the accident and endured headaches."

This court complaint, said that on January 3rd of 2018 he was operating a car on Main Street Annex through the intersection of Huntington Avenue in East Haven when Maturo was "negligently operating his motor vehicle."

Schuler said he tried to avoid Maturo but he "struck the right passenger side of the defendant's vehicle).

As a result of the accident, Schuler said he "has incurred and may incur in the future, expenses for ambulance costs, hospital costs, medical treatment, medicines, x-rays, diagnostic tests and physical therapy, all to his loss and damage."

He added that the accident has caused his "overall quality of life to be greatly diminished."

The lawsuit is seeking payment from Maturo and the town of East Haven "in demand of greater than $15,000, exclusive of interests and costs."

The town tells a different story about the accident.

"The Town routinely defends lawsuits brought each year against Town employees relating to motor vehicle accidents ranging in severity from 'fender benders' to serious collisions," Town Attorney Joe Zullo said.

"Given the number of Town vehicles on the roads each day, and despite the utmost of care exercised by our employees on the roads, it is inevitable that they will occasionally be involved in motor vehicle incidents. In this case, as with the majority of cases, the Town's vehicle was shortly returned to service," Zullo added.

"In this particular case, while the plaintiff claims the Mayor to be liable, the police report cites the Plaintiff's excessive speed as a contributing factor to the accident," Zullo said. "This fact is conveniently and unsurprisingly omitted from the Plaintiff's complaint. As with all claims, and especially in light of the plaintiff's contributing negligence, our legal team will vigorously contest and defend this suit for the benefit of the taxpayers and the Town of East Haven."