A North Carolina woman is seeking compensation from the city of Fort Lauderdale after she was run over by a patrol SUV while she was sunbathing on the beach back in 2012.
Opening statements began Tuesday at Broward Judicial Complex for the civil case of Rinda Mizelle, who is suing for the pain, suffering and medical bills she has endured since the incident.
“Nothing is making any sense. Why is there a machine over the top of me?” Mizelle recalled in court. “Where did everybody go, and where am I?”
In April 2012, Mizelle was lying face up with a shirt over her head on the beach near a lifeguard tower in the 800 block of Seabreeze Boulevard when Lt. Tracy Moll of the Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue made a U-turn with the SUV and ran over Mizelle in the process.
In court, Moll used the term “straddled” to describe how the SUV ran over Mizelle.
“She was directly underneath my truck, so the wheels went on either side of her, never hit her,” Moll said.
Mizelle’s attorney, John Phillips, said the incident was worse and says the SUV was lowered on purpose.
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“The lifeguards and the people on the scene that knew this truck say it was about four to eight inches off the ground and had the tires partially deflated so that it got more traction and didn’t get stuck,” he said.
Pictures shown in court showed the injuries – including burns and lacerations – she suffered to her arms and legs and other parts of her body.
“She’s in pain … sometimes it is dull, sometimes it is severe,” said her husband, Darren Mizelle, who also said his wife can’t use her arms without experiencing any pain.
The case continues in court on Thursday.
