South Florida Lawsuit Seeks $15,000 From NASCAR Driver
One day after a Miami law firm announced its plans to file a lawsuit against a NASCAR driver accused of assaulting a 62-year-old security guard at the Homestead-Miami Speedway last month, the victim and his attorney spoke about the incident Tuesday. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday at the Miami-Dade County Courthouse in downtown Miami, seeks in excess of $15,000 in damages. The suit alleges Archibold Hutchinson suffered bodily injury; pain and suffering; disability; physical impairment; disfigurement; mental anguish; inconvenience; loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life; aggravation of an existing disease or physical defect; activation of a latent disease or physical defect; expense of hospitalization, medical and nursing care, and treatment in the past; expense of hospitalization, medical and nursing care, and treatment to be so obtained in the future; earnings lost in the past; and loss of ability to earn money in the future.Kahne, 27, is charged with one count of battery against Hutchinson, who was working as a security guard at the speedway for a race Nov. 16 when the incident allegedly occurred.
According to a Homestead police report, Kahne was attempting to access a restricted recreational vehicle parking lot on a golf cart after he finished driving his racecar when Hutchinson stopped him and asked him for credentials.
“He was supposed to have a hard card that would let him proceed through that entrance,” Hutchinson told Local 10. “(Kahne said) that he didn’t have it and he didn’t need it because he was a driver. I told him I had been instructed specifically to ask for the hard card and not to let anybody in.”
The report said Kahne then got out of the golf cart and tried to walk through the gate. When Hutchinson blocked the entrance and asked Kahne for credentials again, Kahne pushed Hutchinson to the ground, according to the report.
“He was not pushed once, but pushed two times,” said Russell Dohan, an attorney with Goldberg & Dohan. “The first time he was pushed, he did not fall. He remained polite and calm. The second time he was pushed by Mr. Kahne, he did fall.”
The report said Kahne was stopped and detained by law enforcement officers who witnessed the incident. Several of the witnesses said in their sworn affidavits that Kahne was “unremorseful” and showed “no respect toward authority.”
He was arrested later that day and released on the signed condition that he appears in court. His arraignment is scheduled for January.
Although the report said Hutchinson was treated at the speedway’s medical facility for minor bruises and abrasions, Dohan said his client was also taken to Homestead Hospital and has been receiving treatment for his back injuries by an orthopedic surgeon ever since.
Asked if he would consider dropping the suit if Kahne apologized, Hutchinson said he couldn’t say right now. He also said he would have filed a lawsuit even if someone else had pushed him.
“Yes, why not?” Hutchinson said. “I mean, if I felt that I was injured while performing my duties, yes.”
Dohan said Hutchinson hasn’t been able to return to work because of his injuries and has “been getting attacked” by NASCAR fans on Web site blogs.