A lucky-to-be-alive Bronx driver scored a whopping $10.5 million settlement after metal debris on the George Washington Bridge smashed into his windshield and through his head, leaving him with life-altering brain injuries, court papers show.
Joseph Rosario — 28 at the time — was driving over the span on March 2, 2020, when a 24-inch steel suspension from a truck that had been lying on the roadway catapulted into his 2015 Chrysler 200. The metal gruesomely shot directly through Rosario’s head, striking his skull so hard that the debris landed in his back seat, according to the lawsuit, which was filed that August in Essex, New Jersey, court.
He was rushed to Hackensack Meridian Health, where he had to undergo multiple brain surgeries — Rosario’s skull was fractured, and he suffered from significant brain swelling, court papers said.
“How he lived is a miracle,” Rosario’s attorney Ed Capozzi told NJ.com.
Capozzi said his team then launched a probe into how long the debris had been left on the bridge’s roadway, sorting through tons of driver dash cam footage and dozens of Port Authority video logs, according to the lawsuit, which named the Port Authority.
They found the piece of truck’s suspension that struck Rosario had been sitting on the ground for at least 10 minutes, the attorney said.
“We know it had been there for that [ten minutes] long, we could see cars avoiding it and changing lanes at that location,” he told the outlet.
The attorney’s team discovered 12 incidents of cars being hit by debris on the bridge, with Capozzi adding “those are the ones we know about,” according to NJ.com.
He blasted the Port Authority — the New York-New Jersey agency that owns, operates and maintains the George Washington Bridge — for not properly cleaning the debris for days and leaving the metal object that struck Rosario on the bridge’s roadway.
“They should have done a better job maintaining the bridge,” Capozzi told the outlet.
“They walk the bridge once a day and pick up four pickup trucks worth of debris. They hadn’t done that for five days before the accident.”
The $10.5 million settlement was reached on June 17, but Rosario’s life has been changed forever, according to his attorney.
Despite receiving treatment and rehabilitation for his injuries, Capozzi said he’s now forced to use a wheelchair and needs his parents to take care of him.
“He will never be the same again,” the attorney said.
The Port Authority did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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