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Council OKs $195,000 for snowstorm death
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Pittsburgh City Council voted Monday to approve an $195,000 settlement to the family of a Hazelwood man who died during a record-breaking snowstorm in February of 2010 after making repeated 911 calls complaining of abdominal pain, pleading for paramedics who never came.
The family of Curtis Mitchell, who died of natural causes, sued the city and Allegheny County in October 2010, accusing them of negligence and misconduct. According to the suit, Mitchell, 50, and his girlfriend made 10 calls to 911 over a 30-hour period to seek help for his abdominal pain. Three times, ambulances got within a quarter-mile of his home but were stopped by snowy roads. Paramedics asked the ailing man to walk to the ambulance and when he told them he couldn't, they left. When they finally reached him on the morning of Feb. 7, he was dead.
In addition to the city settlement, the county has agreed to pay the family $85,000.
First Published November 20, 2012 12:00 am
