Suit: Man fell out of wheelchair because fire department put hose on sidewalk for film production

A man is suing the city over claims the fire department's negligence caused him to sustain injuries when his wheelchair struck a fire hose laying on a sidewalk for the purposes of a film production.

Angelo Perez filed a lawsuit Aug. 13 in the Cook County Circuit Court against the City of Chicago, as operator of the Chicago Fire Department.

According to the complaint, the fire department on Sept. 27 dispatched a truck and some of its employees to  Chicago Fire Department to the site of a film production in the area of North Dearborn and North Clark streets.

The defendant's employees, in the course of a non-emergency situation, stretched a fire hose down an alley and over sidewalk, which Perez contends caused his electric wheelchair to fall over and him to land on his right shoulder.

He claims his injury was caused by the city's negligence in creating a hazard on a walkway used by pedestrians and failure to recognize the dangerous hazard and  warn pedestrians about it.

Perez is seeking a judgment in an amount to compensate for past and future pain and suffering, medical expenses, disability, disfigurement and lost wages. He is represented by attorney Erron H. Fisher of Fisher & Lamonica P.C. of Chicago.

Cook County Circuit court case 2014L008474.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed at Cook County Circuit Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note that a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it represents only one side of the story.