Woman Sues Middletown After Tripping In Croydon Hall Parking Lot

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — An Atlantic Highlands woman filed a lawsuit against Middletown Township, saying she was "severely and permanently" injured after she tripped and fell outside of Croydon Hall. She alleges Middletown Township is not properly maintaining the parking lot outside Croydon Hall, and is instead doing "patch" jobs of repaving it.

The woman fell February 3, 2023 in the parking lot of Croydon Hall, located at 900 Leonardoville Road.

"She tripped and fell on uneven, broken, cracked and/or unevenly patched and was caused to fall due to a tripping hazard and/or defect in the parking lot that was grossly negligently left in such disrepair," read her suit. The woman said she was severely and permanently injured.

She filed her suit in January of this year; her lawyer is Jason Saad, with an office in Red Bank.

On Feb. 25, Middletown Twp., through its lawyer Michael Collins of King, Moench & Collins law firm, also in Red Bank, filed a response to her complaint. The Township said the woman fell while she was attending a square dance at Croydon Hall, which had been rented by the Middletown Square Dance Club.

Middletown had issued the club a facilities-use permit, which stated that the Township is not responsible for any injuries or damage that should occur while the group was using the building.

The woman argues it is the responsibility of Middletown DPW to keep the parking lot safe.

Middletown "breached their duty by failing to inspect, fix, fix properly, maintain said premise parking lot and equipment after having actual and/or constructive notice of said defect with the parking lot," her suit read.

A spokeswoman for Middletown said the Twp. cannot comment on an ongoing lawsuit.