Grand Prairie Woman's Car Swallowed By Apparent Sinkhole On First Day Of New Job
GRAND PRAIRIE (CBSDFW.COM) - A Grand Prairie woman is fighting the city over who should take responsibility after her vehicle was swallowed by what appeared to be a sinkhole as she was driving to her new job.
A sinkhole appeared to have opened up near 17th Street and Galveston Street about two weeks ago when Camry Witherspoon was driving to her new job as a postal worker. Through pictures, she showed CBS 11 how her vehicle was swallowed by the hole in the Grand Prairie neighborhood.
She said she had to miss the whole day at her new job to deal with the incident.
"My car just fell right into the ground," Witherspoon said. "Once I got out of the car, my car was completely in the ground."
According to the city, a water line ruptured and caused damage underneath Galveston Street. The city did not consider this to be a pothole or a sinkhole.
After falling into the sinkhole, Witherspoon's vehicle was filled with sand and water. She said she assumed the city would reimburse her for repairs since she only has liability insurance. However, the city considered the damage to be caused by an act of nature, leaving her with a bill for thousands of dollars in damage to her vehicle.
"This is ridiculous because my car was perfectly fine," she said. "It's very upsetting because I pay taxes just like everybody else, and this is not my fault. It's their fault."
In a statement to CBS 11, the city said in part: "...made the determination that her damages were not caused by any wrongful act, omission, or negligence on the part of the City or its employees. While we are sympathetic to Ms. Witherspoon's circumstances, the City's insurance does not cover these types of unforeseen and unpreventable acts of nature."
Witherspoon said she may pursue legal action.
"It messes up my livelihood. I'm a single mother. I have a son. I need to provide for my mother... I provide for her," she said. "It's messing up everything.
