The City Attorney's Office has filed court papers requesting a judge's dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a woman who said she was hit by a car in 2020 after being forced to walk on a street in Hollywood because a homeless encampment blocked her access to a sidewalk.
The City Attorney's Office filed court papers on Wednesday with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kerry Bensinger asking that plaintiff Debra Todd's negligence suit be dismissed "with prejudice," meaning it cannot be refiled. The city also is requesting that its cross-complaint against a third party, Karla C. Diaz, for indemnification and apportionment of fault also be dismissed. The cross-complaint does not state who Diaz is or how she was potentially liable.
Todd's attorney signed the call for dismissal along with a member of the City Attorney's Office, but the court papers do not state why the request is being made.
Todd was walking through the "sprawling homeless encampment" along North Gower Street, north of Yucca Street, under the Hollywood (101) Freeway on Oct. 4, 2020, when she had to step onto the street because there was no room left to stay on the sidewalk, the suit stated.
Todd was hit by a vehicle going south on Gower by a driver who had no warning of a collection of homeless people so large that people were forced to walk on the street, the suit filed in August 2021 stated.
"The sprawling encampment also obstructed (Todd's) view of the oncoming driver, and vice versa, immediately prior to the impact," the suit states.
Todd suffered injuries to her head, leg, arm, hip and back, according to the suit, which further alleges that the city was aware the encampment and the dangerous condition had existed for a long time, but failed to warn Todd and other members of the public.
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