A man whose left arm was destroyed by a Sears wood chipper filed a $200,000 product liability lawsuit against Sears Roebuck & Co. in St. Clair County Circuit Court Aug. 4.
John Donovan Larson claims his hand and arm were pulled into the blade of his Craftsman wood chipper on Aug. 22, 2004.
Larson claims the wood chipper was in a defective and unreasonably dangerous condition because its chute was too short and allowed for a normal sized arm to be pulled in the blade.
The complaint states that the machine was not equipped with an emergency stop mechanism, and it failed to warn of the dangers of vines becoming a mode of entrapment
According to the complaint, Larson suffered physical pain, mental suffering, mental anguish and distress, and has been permanently prevented from attending his usual affairs and duties and has lost wages and income.
His wife, Joan, also is seeking damages claiming she suffers loss of consortium due to her husband’s injuries.
The Larsons are represented by Joseph Bartholomew of Cook, Ysursa, Bartholomew, Brauer & Shevlin of Belleville.
05 L 464 (20th Circuit)
Man who loses arm in wood chipper sues Sears
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