Lawsuit says police allowed injured motorcyclist to die
TRENTON >> Paul Corelli survived a motorcycle crash on Route 29 two years ago, but died “hours later” because Trenton Police failed to find him and get him help, according to a wrongful death suit filed this month by the man’s family.
Corelli’s daughter, Amanda, claimed police officers who responded to the crash site didn’t fulfill their “duty” to search for Corelli after someone called in Nov. 22, 2016 to report an abandoned motorcycle on the highway.
The lawsuit accuses the city of negligently training officers, contending the oversight contributed to the tragedy.
“The City of Trenton’s breach of duty was the proximate cause of Paul Corelli’s injuries and eventual death,” the lawsuit states.
Corelli’s attorney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, and the city doesn’t normally comment on pending litigation.
Corelli’s death has been shrouded in mystery since cops first responded to the crash site Nov. 22, 2016.
Police officers discovered a motorcycle but there was no sign of a motorcyclist, leading them to believe the motorcycle had been abandoned.
But the lawsuit contends police didn’t search the area carefully enough.
Growing worried because he wasn’t picking up his cell phone, Corelli’s friends went to the Route 29 crash site the next day to search for him.
They called 911 immediately upon discovering Corelli’s body in the center median near Rho nightclub.
Police officials admitted it was “quite possible” Corelli had been there for nearly 24 hours.
His motorcycle was found abandoned on Route 29 around 9:15 p.m. Nov. 22. Corelli was discovered around 8:50 p.m. Nov. 23, the day before Thanksgiving, in a median about 900 feet away from his motorcycle, police said at the time.
“He was found approximately two and a half football fields away from the original scene,” then-Lt. Rolando Ramos, who has since retired, told The Trentonian. “We believe something happened that caused him to fall off the motorcycle, but the bike kept going.”
Detectives treated Corelli’s death as accidental, but hadn’t ruled ruling anything out at the time of The Trentonian’s last story. They were gathering surveillance footage to piece together what happened.
Corelli’s attorney, Brian J. Duff, wrote in the complaint that medical records indicated Corelli survived the crash and died “many hours later” from his injuries.