Bike rider seeks jury trial for wet concrete damage suit

Talk about it

A Mitchell woman accused of intentionally damaging a newly poured sidewalk by riding her bicycle through the wet concrete is denying she acted intentionally or negligently.

The Mitchell-based company Big-O-Concrete sued Diana Reiner for negligent and intentional property damage in late October. In her answer, filed Jan. 23 in Davison County, Reiner denied the claims and demanded a jury trial.

The incident is alleged to have occurred after Big-O-Concrete poured a new sidewalk, located on Pebble Beach Road, for the city of Mitchell on Sep. 2.

In its lawsuit, the company claims Reiner ignored orange caution cones and the yells of onlookers when she drove her bicycle for 195 feet over that sidewalk before it had fully cured.

In Reiner’s response, she admitted an incident occurred at the time and place alleged in the lawsuit, but denied she acted “intentionally, was negligent, or was otherwise responsible for such incident.”

Big-O-Concrete was forced to replace the damaged sidewalk to meet standards set by the city, at a cost of $5,736.25.

The company is requesting this amount and additional punitive damages under the intentional property damage charge, interest and attorney’s fees, as well as other relief the court deems just.

Reiner’s response denies Big-O-Concrete is entitled to any punitive reward.

Her response claims the negligence of Big-O-Concrete in causing or contributing to the incident was “more than slight when compared to the negligence of (Reiner).” She also denies Big-O-Concrete was harmed to the extent it claims in its lawsuit, and if it was damaged, those damages were “beyond the control” of Reiner. Reiner requested the lawsuit be dismissed and she be compensated for attorney’s fees. She has also filed a demand for a jury trial. A trial has yet to be scheduled.

Tags: news, updates, courts, local, mitchell, bicycle, concrete, lawsuit