A woman is suing, alleging she suffered various injuries after she fell in a hole in the sidewalk.
Janette Caldwell filed suit Feb. 20 in the Madison County Circuit Court against the village of East Alton.
Caldwell claims she was walking on West St. Louis Avenue on March 15, 2013, when she stepped into a defective area in the sidewalk with her right foot, causing her to fall. "The defect in the defendant’s sidewalk consisted of a hole in portions of the sidewalk which had existed for a sufficient period of time to allow a piece of woody vegetation to take root and grow through a separation in the concrete of which the sidewalk had been constructed,” according to the suit.
Caldwell blames East Alton for causing her injuries, saying it negligently allowed the sidewalk to remain in a defective condition, failed to warn users of the defective condition of the sidewalk, failed to protect Caldwell from the defect in the sidewalk and improperly allowed Caldwell to use the sidewalk.
Caldwell is seeking a judgment of more than $50,000, plus costs.
She is being represented by Richard G. Reed of Reed and Bruhn in Belleville.
Madison County Circuit Court case number 14-L-286.