ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Danger at Albuquerque’s busiest dump is costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

KOB’s 4 Investigates team first told you about people getting hurt at the Eagle Rock Convenience Center two years ago. In March, a jury decided one of those accidents was worth close to a million dollars.

Back in June 2019, Lawrence Gonzales was at the dump unloading branches from a landscaping job when a front-end loader clearing debris gets a little too close. It grabs the branches under his feet and sweeps him into the pit. 

Surveillance video captured the whole thing on camera.

“That is the injury that caused Mr. Gonzales to be here today. That is the injury, the incident, that the city accepts liability for,” said Gonzales’ attorney Chris Lucero at a civil trial against the City of Albuquerque in March.

Five years after the accident, Gonzales’ injuries from that day continue to take their toll. It’s hard for Gonzales to get around, even harder for him to do the manual labor he’s done his whole life.

At the civil trial, a jury concluded the city owed Gonzales $850,000, more than 35-times the $24,000 the city thought it was on the hook for. 

Gonzales said it should send the city a message about safety or lack thereof at the city dump. However, the state caps civil lawsuit damage awards at $400,000, so ultimately Gonzales agreed to $350,000.

“I’d rather have my health back than the money, Ya know?” said Gonzales.

The last few years have been hard for Gonzales’ family. His son Eugene had a brain aneurysm shortly after the trial. A GoFundMe page was set up. 

“Step it up and do what they’re supposed to do,” said Gonzales.

KOB 4 reached out to the city, the first couple of times, a spokesperson told us they couldn’t talk about this case because of Gonzales’ lawsuit. So, we tried again, after the civil trial. For the third time, the city refused to sit down with us and talk about the growing bill we’re all paying for.

A spokesperson sent us a statement:

“Eagle Rock Convenience Center, in collaboration with our safety officers, has evaluated the incident and reviewed safety protocols in place to ensure we are taking every possible measure to prevent similar incidents in the future.

The City of Albuquerque’s Solid Waste Management Department remains committed to the safety and wellbeing of all residents at our facilities.”

After all, Gonzales’ case is just one of nearly a dozen accidents we’ve uncovered over the years. Many of them also heading to court.