Reporter: Greg Moran

CHULA VISTA – A Chula Vista man awarded more than $3 million by a jury this week hopes his victory focuses attention on what he believes is a dangerous stretch of Sweetwater Road.

Lee Johnson suffered brain damage and a severe knee injury almost three years ago when he was struck by a car while jogging west on Sweetwater Road in Bonita, near the entrance to Rohr Park. He subsequently sued the driver, Patrick Garza Jr., and the county of San Diego, claiming the county had created a hazardous situation when it widened the road in the mid-1980s.

"The money is great, but it’s not what I was looking for," said the 23-year-old Johnson, whose award came Wednesday. "I was concerned about other people being injured."

Jackie Stearns, the lawyer representing the county during the two-week trial in San Diego Superior Court, said county officials have not yet decided if they will appeal the decision. Garza will only be able to pay about $50,000, so the county could be on the hook for about $2.4 million, said attorneys for both sides.

Jurors found the county 35 percent at fault for not protecting pedestrians along Sweetwater Road and awarded Johnson $1.9 million in economic damages, of which the county will pay all but $50,000. The panel also awarded him $1.5 million in non-economic damages, and the county would be responsible for 35 percent of that amount.

Johnson’s accident occurred on a curved section of the road, where a bamboo bush had overgrown. When the accident happened, Garza was looking down at his gearbox as he shifted and did not see Johnson jogging, said Gayle Blatt, one of Johnson’s two attorneys.

When county officials put in a two-way, center left-turn lane on Sweetwater Road in the mid-1980s, they did not increase the shoulder area, which is a gravel strip used by pedestrians and joggers, Blatt said.

The lack of an adequate shoulder and the poor maintenance of the bush contributed to the accident, Blatt said. But Stearns disagreed, saying that Garza taking his eyes off the road was the sole cause.

"The county could have put in a bike trail or a jogging lane, and nothing would have changed this accident," Stearns said.

She also said that Johnson had jogged on that stretch of road several times a week for a couple of years without incident, eschewing a jogging path off the road that winds through Rohr Park.

"In my mind, I just don’t believe it was just him (Garza)," Johnson said. "I know the county had something to do with it, with the bamboo bush and improper maintenance of that shoulder."

Johnson’s accident occurred about a half-mile from where Stephanie Rossi, a Bonita mother of three, was struck and killed by a motorcyclist in 1989. Tom Rossi, widower of Stephanie, said he, too, is suing the county.

Johnson stopped by the Rossi home Wednesday with news of the verdict. Rossi said he was unsure if Johnson’s case will affect his.

"It could," he mused. "I don’t know if they’ll find them related."