Police Accident Report Did Not Notify City of Negligence on the Part of the City—Petition to Serve Late Notice of Claim Properly Denied

In affirming the denial of a petition to serve a late notice of claim, the Second Department noted that, although a police accident report was generated, the report did not provide notice of any negligence on the part of the city:

The petitioner contends that the City acquired such knowledge by virtue of a police accident report made by a police officer at the scene of the accident. However, for a report to provide actual knowledge of the essential facts, one must be able to readily infer from that report that a potentially actionable wrong had been committed by the public corporation … . Here, the police accident report did not provide the City with actual notice of the essential facts constituting the petitioner’s claim that the City was negligent in the happening of the subject accident or that the petitioner sustained any injuries as a result of the City’s alleged negligence … . Kuterman v City of New York, 2014 NY Slip Op 06560, 2nd Dept 10-1-14