Payless customer claims injuries from falling shoe boxes

Payless ShoeSource is being sued by a woman who has suffered disability after boxes of shoes fell from a shelf at a Belleville store and hit her in the back and shoulder.

Janette Dent is seeking in excess of $100,000 in damages, plus costs of her suit for injuries she claims occurred April 25.

According to the suit filed June 27 in St. Clair County Circuit Court, Payless improperly stacked items on top of its shelves and caused boxes to fall on Dent. The suit also claims Payless failed to stack shoe boxes in a proper manner and failed to warn of improperly stacked boxes.

Dent, represented by Thomas C. Rich and Jennifer L. Barbieri of Fairview Heights, claims she has had to expend money for medical treatment and has lost wages, among other things.