$38.5M Settlement For Nine Injured By Overpass Collapse

A $38.5 million settlement has been reached between the builders of a bridge over the 91 Freeway in Corona and nine workers injured when part of the structure collapsed in 2015.

A Riverside County Superior Court judge signed off on the deal on Wednesday, March 9, said Chris Aitken, the attorney for one of the workers, Buena Park resident James ‘Chip’ Chaffee, who suffered a brain injury.

Chaffee, 56, said he remembers what he was doing five minutes before the accident but not the collapse itself. Chaffee will receive a little more than $5 million, Aitken said.

Chaffee said he can’t bend over or walk long distances without a cane. He also has difficulty controlling his emotions.

‘I’d still love to be working,’ Chaffee said in an interview. ‘You can have all that money back if you’d put me back to work, but that ain’t possible.’