The father of a 16-year-old girl whose leg was broken by a falling light pole Monday is suing the city of Chicago for leaving the light pole in disrepair in the South Side Hyde Park neighborhood.
Hugo Covarrubias filed the two-count lawsuit Friday in Cook County Circuit Court seeking $100,000 in damages. The suit alleges that the city neglected to repair or replace the light pole and failed to warn pedestrians about any hazard.
His 16-year-old daughter was walking with two other students about 11 a.m. Monday in the 5200 block of South Lake Park Avenue when the light pole broke from its base and fell on the trio, according to the suit and Chicago Police.
A Chicago Police sergeant and a group of bystanders pulled the pole off Covarrubias’ daughter, according to police and the suit. She was taken in serious condition to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with a leg fracture.
The two other students were taken to University of Chicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital as a precaution, police said at the time. Neither had visible injuries.
A representative for the city did not immediately return a request for comment.
