A woman in Grand Prairie, Canada, is fighting the city over who should take responsibility after her car was swallowed by an apparent sinkhole. She was driving to her new job.
A sinkhole appeared to have come up close to 17th Street and Galveston Street about two weeks ago when Camry Witherspoon was driving to her new job of a postal worker. Through photos, she showed CBS 11 how her car was swallowed by the hole in the Grand Prairie neighborhood.
She stated she had to miss the entire day at her new job to deal with the incident.
“My car just fell right into the ground,” Witherspoon stated. “Once I got out of the car, my car was completely in the ground.”
According to the city, a water line ruptured and inflicted damage underneath Galveston Street. The city did not accept this to be a pothole or a sinkhole.
After dropping into the sinkhole, Witherspoon’s car was filled with sand and water. She stated she assumed the city would reimburse her for repair works since she only has liability insurance. However, the city considered the damage to be caused by an act of nature, leaving her with a bill for thousands of dollars in damage with regards to her car.
“This is ridiculous because my car was perfectly fine,” she stated. “It’s very upsetting because I pay taxes just like everybody else, and this is not my fault. It’s their fault.”
In a statement to CBS 11, the city stated in part: “…made the determination that her damages were not caused by any wrongful act, omission, or negligence on the part of the City or its workers. While we are sympathetic to Ms. Witherspoon’s circumstances, the City’s insurance does not cover these types of unforeseen and unpreventable acts of nature.”
Witherspoon stated she may pursue legal action.
“It messes up my livelihood. I’m a single mother. I have a son. I need to provide for my mother… I provide for her,” she stated. “It’s messing up everything.”
