Parents blame ice skating coach for daughter's skate-to-head injury

A Cook County couple is suing an ice skating coach, claiming one of his students struck their daughter in the head with a skate when she landed a jump he told her to perform.

John and Marit Sullivan, individually and on behalf of their minor daughter, filed a lawsuit Sept. 15 in Cook County Circuit Court against Nick Belovel, alleging negligence. The suit also names Vicka Belovel and the City of Evanston as respondents in discovery.

According to the complaint, Sullivan's minor daughter was figure skating at the Robert Crown Ice Complex on Main Street in Evanston on Sept. 21, 2012, when she fell while performing a jump in a corner.

The Sullivans claim Belovel, a figure skating coach at the Robert Crown Ice Skating School, instructed one of his minor students to perform a jump in the same corner, and struck Sullivan's head with her skate upon landing, causing injuries.

The couple accuses Belovel of failing to instruct his minor skaters to yield right of way to skaters in front of them and instructing the minor skater involved in the incident to perform without regard to the danger to other skaters in violation of the school's rules.

The suit includes two counts, one for negligence and one under the Family Expense Act. The Sullivans are seeking more than $50,000 in damages and are represented by John B. Schwartz & Associates in Chicago.

Cook County Circuit Court case number: 2014L009604.

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