March 9, 2007 -- The man Yankee pitcher Carl Pavano slammed his Porsche into in Florida last year is suing the Bronx Bomber and the team.
Ernest DeLaura, 47, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., has had shoulder surgery, and is likely to need neck surgery as a result of the August crash, his lawyer, Paul Edelman, said yesterday.
"If Mr. DeLaura had minimal injuries, believe me, this lawsuit would have never been filed. He's hurt," Edelman said.
"Look, it was an accident. No one was looking for anyone to get injured," he said. Pavano's car "was basically was doing 360s in the middle of the roadway. [DeLaura] was in the wrong place at the wrong time."
No one was charged in the crash, which occurred when Pavano's 2006 Porsche Carrera hydroplaned Aug. 15 on a rain-slicked road in West Palm Beach.
Pavano was with his brunette bombshell girlfriend, Gia Allemand, 22, a model and aspiring schoolteacher, who defended her beau, saying he couldn't have avoided the crash. The two were returning home from breakfast.
The Carrera spun into the 18-wheeler driven by DeLaura, a driver for the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County. He was stopped at a stop sign, Edelman said. The Porsche incurred $30,000 in damages, the truck, $20,000.
Pavano, 30, raised the ire of the Yankees by keeping the smashup a secret from the team for two weeks, until the pain was unbearable. Two cracked ribs were found, and he was told to go to physical rehabilitation.
The $39.95 million hurler, who's been beleaguered by injuries, has not pitched in a major-league game since June 2005. He is in spring training now. An effort to reach him through the Yankees yesterday was unsuccessful.
Pavano's agent couldn't be reached late yesterday afternoon.
DeLaura had surgery on his shoulder in October. But the extent of his injuries remains unknown.
"We still don't know if they are going to remove any discs from his neck," Edelman said. "It's a major thing. Most people don't want to get surgery on their neck unless they absolutely have to."
In papers filed in Bronx Supreme Court, DeLaura charges that Pavano was "careless, reckless and negligent" in driving "at a dangerous and careless rate of speed under the prevailing conditions."
"Based on the facts and events of the accident, it was pretty clear Mr. Pavano was at fault," Edelman said.
