Unsell
A woman has filed suit against an Alton bar, which she claims she was visiting when she fell in a pothole in the parking lot.
Helen Baker claims she was a patron at the Riviera Maya at 1702 Homer N. Adams Parkway on Feb. 14, 2011. After exiting the building and while walking toward her vehicle, Baker's foot got stuck in a pothole full of pieces of broken asphalt, causing her to trip and fall, according to the complaint filed June 12 in Madison County Circuit Court.
Because of her fall, Baker experienced pain and suffering and incurred significant medical costs, the suit states.
She blames the bar's owner, defendant William E. Kidd's Survivor's Trust Mark J. Kidd, for contributing to her fall, saying he negligently failed to provide a safe place, failed to provide a safe way to enter the bar and allowed a pothole to remain in an unsafe condition.
"The pothole was a latent defect in that due to the evening lighting conditions the pothole was not readily visible," the suit states.
In addition to Kidd, Baker names Mayan Enterprises, which leased the property, as a defendant, saying it negligently failed to provide a safe place to walk, failed to provide proper access to the parking lot, allowed a pothole to remain in an unsafe condition in the parking lot, failed to inspect the premises to ensure that the pothole was safe and failed to warn Baker of the unsafe condition.
In her two-count complaint, Baker is seeking a judgment of more than $100,000, plus other relief the court deems just.
Jane Unsell of Unsell and Schattnik in Wood River will be representing her.
Madison County Circuit Court case number: 12-L-830.