A New York City Department of Environmental Protection Police Officer sustained serious injuries when the ATV he was patrolling in struck an object on a dirt road while he was pursuing two trespassers. The Officer was investigating unauthorized tree cutters in the vicinity of the Catskill Aqueduct in Cortlandt Manor, New York. While investigating the location, he noticed two individuals on ATV’s traveling in a no trespass zone. The trespassers took off and the Officer pursued them in his ATV. Shortly after the beginning of the pursuit, the Officer’s ATV struck an object causing the ATV to flip. The Officer sustained numerous fractures to his body which necessitated surgery. The Officer retained Decolator, Cohen & DiPrisco, LLP in an attempt to recover money damages for his physical injuries against the owners and operators of the ATV.

DCD sued the owners and operators of the ATV’s pursuant to GML §205-e claiming that the defendant’s criminal trespassing constituted a statutory predicate and indirectly caused the Officer’s injury. DCD argued that Cerati’s Law (i.e. Cerati v. Berrios) applied to the facts of this case by establishing that the defendant’s action in violating the law (i.e. trespassing) indirectly caused the Officer’s injuries. In other words, the Officer would not have had to take police action and would have not been injured if the defendant’s did not criminally trespass in their ATV’s. Ultimately the matter settled for $500,000 during the discovery phase of the case, which was the limit of the defendant’s insurance policy.