State Senator Jim Alesi fell off a ladder and broke his leg at someone else's unfinished home three years ago - and now he's blaming the homeowners for his injury. Alesi is also suing the home builder, Louis DiRisio.
This comes as a shock to DiRisio, who says the front door of this Perinton home was locked when Jim Alesi tried to go inside in January of 2008. DiRisio says Alesi went down around to the back and found an unlocked door to the basement.
"He had absolutely no right whatsoever to be in that home," DiRisio says. "He didn't have permission. He was a trespasser."
In fact, the homeowners had the option to press criminal trespassing charges against Alesi, who suffered serious injuries that required surgery when he fell from the ladder. But the homeowners tell us they didn't want to make a bad situation worse for the Senator.
The under-construction home was already sold by the time Alesi decided to check it out, but Alesi apparently thought it was still for sale.
Page two of Alesi's filing says "the premises were not reasonably safe." When he decided to try to climb a ladder -- because there was no functional staircase in the unfinished home -- the filing indicates that Alesi was placed at risk because of "the negligence of the defendants." Thus, Alesi concludes that his injuries were not his own fault.
"Look, it's a job site," DiRisio said. "A home under construction. There was a ladder going from the basement to the first level of the home, and he slipped going up the ladder. The ladder didn't break. There wasn't a malfunction there. In fact, I still have the ladder if you want a photo of it." Then DiRisio added, "I suppose it might not have been safe for someone who is not familiar with operating a ladder, or for someone without proper footgear."
DiRisio showed us the ladder, which does appear to still be in solid working shape.
So why would Alesi sue now, three years later? The homeowners told us he never complained after the injury, nor did he thank them for declining to press charges.
The statute of limitations for trespassing runs out after three years. That means that as of this past Tuesday, the homeowners could no longer sue Alesi for trespassing on their property. As it turns out, that's the exact same day he filed his suit against them.
Friday afternoon, Senator Alesi called us back and would only read a statement over the phone. He said, "My attorney has filed a civil lawsuit on my behalf... beyond that I have no comment." When I tried to ask questions, the Senator hung up the phone.
The couple who lives in the home is shocked. Lou DiRisio says there will be no settlement with Alesi. "The support that I've received from friends, family, people I don't even know... it's been amazing."
