PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A Superior Court judge has upheld a $661,983-plus judgment against a now-retired Providence police sergeant who rammed into a car driven by the man known as the face of "Bob's Big Adventures."
A jury in March found now-retired Sergeant Peter J. Costello was negligent when he hit a car driven by Robert J. Venturini, leaving the then 53-year-old with back and neck injuries. Costello was driving a police cruiser in Pawtucket on Dec. 11, 2011, after conducting a background check on a police recruit. The jury awarded Venturini $291,622, which amounted to $661,983 with 12 percent pre-judgment interest.
Venturini's lawyer, John B. Harwood, said that interest accumulating since the jury's verdict would bring that sum to about $690,000.
Venturini, the familiar, friendly personality behind "An Hour with Bob" and "Bob's Big Adventures," local cable-access shows watched by Rhode Islanders for 19 years, ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2010.
Venturini lost eight teeth in the accident and had a plate placed in his neck, Harwood said.
"The poor guy hasn't been able to do those activities," Harwood said of his cable shows.
The city had asked Judge Sarah Taft-Carter to amend the jury award, arguing damages against Costello should be capped at $100,000 because the sergeant fell "under the umbrella of the city's sovereign immunity."
Taft-Carter upheld the full judgment last week. She found that while the city's liability could be capped, not so for Costello, who Venturini sued in his individual capacity along with the city.
"There is considerable precedent supporting the proposition that negligent government employees, acting in the scope of their employment, may be personally liable for damages," the judge wrote.