Fasanelli v. Terzo

The plaintiff Anthony Fasanelli sustained
injuries when the police cruiser which
he, as a member of the Hartford police department,
was operating in pursuit of a speeder collided
with an automobile operated by the defendant.
Fasanelli brought suit to recover damages. The
city of Hartford intervened to recover for the
workmen's compensation it had paid to Fasanelli.
In a second action, the city sought to recover for
the damage to the police cruiser. From the
judgments rendered on verdicts for the plaintiffs,
the defendant has appealed. For the purpose of
these appeals, we shall discuss the issues in the
first case only, since the judgment in the second
case is dependent on the outcome of the first. From the undisputed facts, the jury could have
found the following: At about 1:15 a.m. on May 11,
1957, Fasanelli, hereinafter called the plaintiff,
was driving west on Park Street in Hartford, in
pursuit of an automobile going at an excessive
speed, when his cruiser collided with the defendant's
westbound automobile in the southerly half
of Park Street as the defendant was turning left
to enter Bartholomew Avenue. Both Park Street, fifty
feet wide, and Bartholomew Avenue, thirty-two
feet wide, are two-way streets. Bartholomew
[150 Conn. 352]