Town of Fairfield sued over fallen-branch death
BRIDGEPORT — The family of a prominent Fairfield man, impaled by a tree branch as he drove into the driveway of his home last year, claims the town of Fairfield had been warned several times regarding the poor health of the fallen tree, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday.
David L. Schmerzler, 54, was president of The Patterson Club and well-known in the town but the suit, filed in Superior Court, claims town officials ignored Schmerzler’s pleas to remove the tree just weeks before his death.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages not only for Schmerzler’s death but for the emotional suffering of his wife and daughter who witnessed the tragedy.
The Schmerzler family and their lawyer did not return calls and emails for comment.
Fairfield Town Attorney James Baldwin declined comment on the lawsuit.
The lawsuit states that on June 30, 2019, at approximately 2:15 p.m., David Schmerzler, his wife, Donna Schmerzler and their daughter, Emily Schmerzler, were driving north on Sturges Highway in Fairfield when the crown of a large Sassafras tree on the town’s right-of-way fractured.
As they entered the driveway of their home, a splintered limb from the tree fell through the windshield, impaling David Schmerzler and causing his death, the suit states.
Police said they found Schmerzler unconscious in the driver’s seat of his car after it was struck by the tree limb. Schmerzler was taken to Norwalk Hospital where he pronounced dead at 3:18 p.m. His wife sustained minor injuries in the passenger seat, police said.
The lawsuit states that the family first reported that the tree was potentially hazardous in September 2018 and then again in March 2019 but while town employees did come out in March, they removed two other trees and left the sassafras.
In April 2019, Donna Schmerzler contacted the town’s tree division to complain that the health of the tree had further declined and that it was being attacked by woodpeckers, the suit states, but no action was apparently taken.
“Defendant town of Fairfield’s negligence, by and through the acts or omissions of its tree division staff and/or tree warden, caused David Schmerzler’s catastrophic injuries and death,” the lawsuit claims.