I have not heard of anything like this ever happening. This facility was sued for allowing a resident to stay even though it could not handle her wandering. What a tragic thing.

A retiree who wandered away from a Vallejo nursing home for the seventh time in 2003 only to be hit by a police car will receive $3.5 million under a settlement in the lawsuit she filed against the city and the nursing home.

The lion’s share of the payment will be made by Evergreen Healthcare nursing home, which failed to keep close tabs on Fidelita Angeles, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and showed a propensity for roaming away, her attorneys said Tuesday.

“It’s true that there were two entities responsible, but in terms of just the absolute indefensible conduct, it was Evergreen that insisted on keeping her after she had already wandered six times,” said Peter Hinton, an attorney for Angeles. “They were not equipped to handle someone who was a wanderer.”

Angeles was a 68-year-old retired bank employee when she wandered away from Evergreen Healthcare nursing home at 1101 Louisiana St. in Vallejo at about 8:45 p.m. on Sept. 24, 2003. About three hours later, Vallejo police Officer Gilbert Lucero hit Angeles near Lincoln Road East and Annette Avenue, said a lawsuit filed in Solano County Superior Court.

She suffered head injuries, a punctured lung and three broken ribs, said the suit, which also named two nursing-home officials, the city and Lucero as defendants. The lawsuit said Lucero had acted “negligently and carelessly.”