Riverside Drive couple files suit over sidewalk incident

From Staff Reports

   A West Riverside Drive husband and wife are seeking $100,000 from the city of Elizabethton alleging a hole in a city sidewalk caused the wife's fall and subsequent injuries last December.
   Filed in Carter County Circuit Court by attorney William Byrd, James Edward Holsclaw and Mary Leota Holsclaw are named as plaintiffs in the case against the defendant, the city of Elizabethton.
   The suit reads that Mary Leota Holsclaw was a pedestrian on the city's sidewalk in the Walker Street area on Dec. 14 of last year to watch a parade from East Side School.
   Mrs. Holsclaw was following the parade when she stepped into a hole on the sidewalk causing her to fall face forward and strike the sidewalk with her face and right arm, according to the complaint.
   Mrs. Holsclaw sustained injuries to her neck and head, including a broken nose and a "radical head" fracture to the right elbow, the complaint reads.
   The suit alleges the sidewalk was owned by the city and the city was under a duty to reasonably maintain the sidewalk. The complaint further alleges the city had constructive and/or actual notice of the hole in the sidewalk. The suit reads that Mrs. Holsclaw has incurred medical and hospital bills due to her injuries.
   The Holsclaws are seeking a judgment of $100,000.