New Jersey: “Ramsey and Bergen County police must pay a man who got drunk and passed out on a snow bank $850,000. A jury decided the police bungled a 911 call, and should have found Frederick Puglisi sooner. …Puglisi walked out of a New Year’s Eve party at a Ramsey hotel in 2001 and passed out on a snow bank for nine hours.” Attorney Samuel Denburg convinced a jury that Puglisi was only 15 percent responsible for his resulting frostbite and other injuries, while the police were 85 percent responsible because the 911 dispatcher did not press for enough details from a bystander or pass all the details on to officers, and because the police conducted only a cursory search of the scene. (“Jury Makes Police Pay $850,000 For Not Finding Partygoer”, WNBC, Sept. 29; “Drunken man passes out, wins $850K from police”, Newsday, Sept. 29; “Drunken ‘Snowman’ Gets $850G Payday”, 1010WINS, Sept. 29).

Filed under: New Jersey, personal responsibility