Chicago panel approves $5.7 million settlement
A Chicago City Council committee has approved a $5.7 million payment to a bicyclist who was paralyzed after he was hit by a falling tree limb.
The city council's Finance Committee signed off on the settlement with 37-year-old Erick Leon on Monday.
He was on a bicycle when he was hit by a 40-foot limb in 2011.
Leon's lawyer told the Chicago Sun-Times that Leon will be in a wheelchair forever.
Chicago First Deputy Corporation Counsel Leslie Darling said the tree was inspected 10 months before the accident. She also sids the city received requests to remove dead branches. But Darling said a city expert said rot wasn't visible when the tree was inspected and the tree was inspected according to protocol and didn't need further trimming.
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