A New London Court Verdict awards $1.3 Million dollars to driver who hit Cow on I-395

Here’s an udderly unique story.

Instead of jumping over the moon a local cow bolted through a fence, and while roaming on I-395 in Montville, it was struck by a car driven by Stefan LapKOWski. Mr. Lapkowski was treated by Dr. Adrian Hamburger but suffered from injuries enough to convince a jury to award him a $1.3 million dollar settlement. The verdict was rendered in New London Superior Court on Friday, March 10th.

The Lawyer representing Lapkowski, Steven Errante of LTKE LAW in New Haven, brought in a cattle expert to opine on how to handle a newly purchased cow, as did the defendant’s lawyer. As the story goes the defendant purchased 2 cows at a Middletown cattle auction, brought them to his farm in a trailer, and let them out to pasture. Moving cows to a new location is very stressful on the cows. So, one of the cows immediately bolted for the fence and knocked it over escaping into the woods with the second cow also hoofing it out of there as well. The farm was only a ½ mile from Interstate-395. The defendant attempted to retrieve the cows but gave up trying to find the black cows in the dark, hoping to have better luck the next day. But before he could, at 3 a.m., the plaintiff, who was driving home from work, when he came over the crest of a hill struck the 800-pound cow making Lapkowski’s Jeep unrecognizable.

Errante says, the errant cow was the cause of his client’s medical bills, lost wages, injuries and now he suffers from PTSD. Apparently, according to his cow expert, the cows needed to be in a pen for a few days to get used to the new environment and relieve the stress before being released to graze.

Not wanting to milk the situation, the jury rendered the verdict in 55 minutes. Errante added, the story may seem far-fetched but it’s no bull. It is truly a moooving story.

Note: The jury was not biased by the juror, whose last name was Burger, who was released from serving for personal reasons.

Click here to view the CT Post article (by Peter YanKOWski).