Sacramento pays $160K settlement to man rear-ended by city vehicle

The City of Sacramento is paying a $160,000 settlement to a man who says he suffered a concussion after a city employee rear-ended him in South Land Park in March 2015.

Roger Dunstan, 64, of Sacramento, was driving south on Riverside Boulevard when he slowed to make a left turn onto Volz Drive, according to a lawsuit Dunstan and his wife Judith filed in 2015 in Sacramento Superior Court. When Dunstan slowed, city employee Clinton Nelms rear-ended him in a city animal control truck, said Noemi Esparza, Dunstan’s attorney.

Nelms is no longer a city employee as of August 2015, city spokesman Tim Swanson said. Swanson declined further comment on the settlement.

After he was hit, Dunstan’s SUV spun around, crashed through a fence and stopped on the lawn of a home, Esparza said.

Dunstan lost consciousness on impact and was diagnosed with a concussion, mild traumatic brain injury and short-term memory loss, Esparza said.

This story was originally published January 10, 2019 at 10:01 AM.