Paterson to pay $230K to NY man who claimed severe injury in crash with police car

PATERSON — The city has agreed to pay $230,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a New York City man injured in a crash with a Paterson police officer in 2019.

Jean Rodriguez-Reinoso said in his lawsuit that he suffered “severe and permanent injuries” in the collision at East 21st Street and 14th Avenue, but did not provide details of what happened to him in his complaint.

The lawsuit said Rodriguez-Reinoso was driving west on 14th Avenue and had the right of way at the intersection. The New York man’s lawyer blamed the crash on Paterson police officer Julio Gonzalez, who allegedly was going south on East 21st Street.

The city in court papers denied that Gonzalez did anything wrong.

The settlement had been reached eight months ago, according to a letter Rodriguez-Reinoso’s lawyer filed with the court on April 10. But no payments were made because the City Council had not approved the deal.

Rodriguez-Reinoso’s lawyer filed a motion asking the judge to enforce the settlement on March 27. The council voted 7-0 to approve the settlement payment on Tuesday night, without conducting any public discussion.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson pays $230K to NY man injured in crash with police car