A Villager who was attending a concert at a local church claims she was permanently injured after she allegedly tripped and fell on an uneven walkway near the parking lot.
Attorneys representing Joan P. Arsenault filed the complaint against North Lake Presbyterian Church, Inc., in the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court of Lake County on August 11.
Arsenault, who is 85 and lives in the Village of Santiago, claims she attended a 10-year anniversary spring concert by The Villages Pops Chorus at the church on April 8, 2024. North Lake Presbyterian Church is located at 975 Rolling Acres Road in Lady Lake.
As Arsenault was leaving the venue at around 4:30 p.m., she allegedly tripped over a one-inch vertical depression in the walkway that was bordering handicap parking spaces. Her attorneys claim the walkway created an “optical illusion of continuity” that concealed the hazard, making the surface appear flat.
“[Arsenault] tripped and fell with force over an abrupt, dangerous, hazardous, inconspicuous, non-building-code-compliant, nondelineated, not readily apparent, optically blending, unanticipated, unattended, uncommon, uncorrected, uneven, unexpected, unguarded, unleveled, unmarked, unpainted, and unwarned elevation change, specifically a section of the angled/inclined walkway vertically depressed approx. one (1) inch,” reads a portion of the complaint.
Arsenault accuses the church of negligence and premises liability, saying it failed to properly maintain the walkway, warn guests of the danger, or comply with building codes and safety standards.
The Villager’s attorneys argue that the church knew, or should have known, about the hazard, citing prior reports of similar incidents, and call the condition a “concealed, latent trap” that created a foreseeable zone of risk.
After the alleged fall, Arsenault claims she suffered serious and permanent injuries, including “disability, scarring, disfigurement, mental anguish, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life.” She says she had to be hospitalized and has since incurred medical and nursing expenses, according to the complaint.
Arsenault is seeking over $50,000 in damages, exclusive of attorney’s fees and associated costs.