The vast majority is for a San Diego Bay sewage spill more than two years ago. NBC 7’s Joey Safchik breaks down the spending.
On Tuesday, San Diego's City Council approved a series of settlement payouts for people impacted by sewage spills, car crashes and dog bites, among other things.
The total of the settlements amount to nearly $13 million, the vast majority of which, some $11.4 million, is connected to a sewage spill in San Diego Bay in 2023.
The second highest payout was over a high-profile car crash in 2018, in which 18-year-old Trevor Heitmann killed a mother and her 12-year-old daughter while driving over 100 mph while going the wrong way on Interstate 805. Per court documents, the police were aware Heitmann was having a mental health crisis but did not evaluate or speak with him.
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On top of the money, which will be paid to the teen's parents, the city said it will revise its procedures for such situations. NBC 7 is still waiting to learn what changes are afoot.
The city already paid out more than $6 million to the family of the women and girl who were killed.
Among the other settlements, $450,000 was paid out to a woman who made a U-turn and collided with a police car, which was speeding with its lights and sirens on.
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Then there is $250,000 for the family living in a Point Loma home that was flooded with raw sewage, which came up from the toilets and sinks. The incident was blamed on a nearby sewer main built in 1948.
Plus, $200,000 for a woman who was hit by a city truck and said she suffered a traumatic brain injury, and $85,000 for a child who was bitten by a police dog when her police officer uncle did not lock the doors of the vehicle the dog was in.
The city sets aside money for settlement payouts, but some of those taxpayer dollars could, in theory, go toward other services provided by the city, which is facing a $250 million shortfall. The sewage-related settlements, however, are paid out through a separate pot of money.
