By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM –Tom DeRosa of Chestnut Street says he is dropping his $3,000 claim against the village because Potsdam has already spent too much to defend itself.

DeRosa’s claim stems from an auto accident on Market Street Feb. 19 when he says he was struck by Potsdam police patrol car, which the department admits was not DeRosa’s fault.

His case in small claims court was dismissed Thursday by Village Justice Nicholas Pignone because DeRosa did not file a notice of claim – a document advising the court of the intended action – in the specified time period.

Nevertheless, DeRosa said, Pignone offered him an extra 10 days to file the notice and come back for another try, but DeRosa is throwing in the towel, saying he doesn’t want the village to waste any more money in defending themselves.

DeRosa says his car was hit by a police car that was on its way to an emergency, but which did not have its siren or emergency lights on.

He said his insurance company advised him to file his claim directly with the village’s insurer, which would be simpler and more expeditious.

But in spite of what DeRosa believes is clear evidence in his favor, the insurer denied his claim, basing the denial on a section of state law that gives the driver and the owner of an emergency vehicle on its way to an emergency legal protection in the event of an accident.

DeRosa says he looked up the law, and found that an emergency vehicle still might be liable in an accident if its siren and lights weren’t on, which DeRosa says were not, and which he says the police admit.

He filed with small claims court in Potsdam, and the village notified its lawyers, Lynch Law Office in Syracuse, who sent DeRosa a copy of the 19-page document they sent to Potsdam Village Justice Nicholas Pignone in preparation for the Thursday small claims session.

“I was asking for $3,000 and they must have spent that much on legal fees to deny my claim,” DeRosa said.

He said the money he claims is not the issue, but that it has become a matter of principal for him to go ahead with his claim, which even if he wins will not cover all of the money he will spend to get the car fixed.

“It was disheartening to see the chief of police and the officer stuck in court for 45 minutes,” he said.

“The village has wasted too much money already,” with the consulting and documentation the law firm has done, and with the presence of the police chief, the officer who was driving, the judge and the clerk in the court, “maybe spending $4,000 to save $3,000,” DeRosa said.

In fact he said he has officially requested documents related to the case, including the law firm’s billing and to see if the law firm is representing the village or is in fact representing the village’s insurance company, which remains unclear to him.

Village Administrator Everett Basford was out of town of Friday, and Village Justice Pignone was in court all day, so neither was available to comment.