A man rendered paraplegic when the vehicle in which he was riding was struck by a detached boat trailer settled his Atlantic County suit, Ponce v. O’Hara, and was paid the majority of the $4.62 million settlement on Jan. 5.

Plaintiff Luis Ponce was a passenger in the rear seat of a van heading northbound on U.S. 206 in Hammonton on June 21, 2019, when an SUV heading in the opposite direction approached, towing a 16-foot boat on a trailer. The trailer became dislodged and traveled into oncoming traffic, striking the Ponce vehicle before leaving the roadway and striking a utility pole, according to a police report and the plaintiff’s attorney, Michael Mackler of Goldenberg, Mackler, Sayegh, Mintz, Pfeffer, Bonchi & Gill in Atlantic City.