CTV reporter files $15.7M lawsuit after crash near Guelph

The family of the CTV Kitchener reporter who was hit by a car while at a crash scene on Brock Road in Puslinch back in March is seeking restitution of $15.7 million.

Stephanie Villella and her family is suing the 92-year-old driver who hit her, as well as an unnamed Guelph Police officer, the Guelph Police Service, the Ontario Provincial Police and the province.

According to the statement of claim filed at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Guelph, “Villella was standing within the closed barricade, when without any warning, the driver’s vehicle passed through the barricade and struck her.”

The document listed over 30 reasons why the driver should be liable for damages. Examples include allegedly “driving carelessly and recklessly” and not being “properly licenced.”

It also read that the police officer failed to ensure the safety and security of the roadway at the site in which they were at all times responsible for. As for Guelph Police and OPP, the claim noted their responsibility for the conditions of Brock Road, while the province is responsible for actions of provincial police officers.

The claims are split between Villella and her husband, parents and siblings through the Family Law Act.

Villella individually is looking for $10.5 million in restitution for a plethora of physical and psychological injuries.

That includes a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) with Grade 2 diffuse axonal injury requiring decompressive craniectomy, blunt cerebrovascular, facial fractures, a C7/T1 fracture, a left pneumothorax with bilateral pulmonary contusions, left pelvic and fibula/tibial fractures, and scalp and facial lacerations. It also stated that the full extent of Villella’s injuries are “unknow and continue to be investigated.”

The document said that the TBI has permanently impaired her physical, mental, and psychological functions.

“Stephanie sustained and will continue to sustain pain and suffering such that she is unable to perform her activities of daily living and is unable to participate in those recreational, social, household, outdoor, athletic, and employment activities to the extent to which she participated in such activities prior to the collision.”

The claim covers costs for treatments, legal fees, a loss of income and earning potential, and out-of-pocket expenses on top of damages for loss of home maintenance capacity and interdependent relationship.

The defendants have 20 days to prepare a statement of defence if they wish to fight the claim in court. No defence claims have been have been filed yet, and no claims in the document have been proven in court.