Horse track customer sues Fairmount Park for parking lot trip

George Chance's odds of winning a large payout from a horse racing track have improved.

The Caseyville man filed a lawsuit against Fairmount Park in Collinsville claiming he broke his wrist and wounded his face and leg after tripping on a metal chain in the track's parking lot on Nov. 21, 2005.

"...Plaintiff Goerge Chance was caused to trip over the chain and violently fall to the ground," the complaint states.

Chance, represented by Ted Harvey and Carson C. Menges of Freeark, Harvey, Mendillo, Dennis, Wuller, Cain & Murphy in Belleville, is seeking at least $50,000 in damages for his injuries, medical expenses and pain.

According to the suit filed Feb. 3 in Madison County, the track was negligent for not attaching flags or other warnings to a low-hanging chain suspended between two posts in the parking lot.

Chance claims the metal chain was out of his natural line of sight which increased the danger of tripping. He also claims the chain was painted white, a color similar to the backdrop.

Other chains in the parking lots were marked with flags, the complaint states.