Antonia Lopez Chaj has received one of the largest damage awards given to one person in California. In the case brought to the Torrance Superior Court Friday, the 43-year-old painter was awarded $58 million from a security company at a bar he was severely injured at.
Chaj was at a bar when a fight broke out between his two relatives and a bartender. According to CBS Los Angeles, an untrained security guard interjected and the result was a merciless attack. The guard, Emerson Quintanella, beat Chaj with a baton, kicked his head in, and bashed his skull into the pavement numerous times. Quintanella, along with the bartender-manager who was involved in the dispute, have since gone missing.
According to The LA Times, Chaj's attorney Federico Sayre had to explain to him "that he now is going to be taken care of the rest of his long life," after the multimillion-dollar verdict against DGSP Security and Patrol Services. "As you can see, 25% of his skull is missing."
While extensive rehabilitation and constructive surgery have helped Chaj greatly, he still faces many surgeries in the future. Sayre tells CBS "they saved his life but he has significant brain damage," adding that "he can't speak and he requires 24-hour nursing care."
Only nine of 12 jurors were needed to agree on the verdict in civil court, the decision was unanimous; the plaintiffs were found guilty of all claims.