City of Park Ridge found liable in boy’s death, ordered to pay $5M

By JENNIFER JOHNSON jjohnson@pioneerlocal.com March 13, 2012 1:36PM

The city of Park Ridge has been ordered to pay $5.18 million to the estate of a 15-year-old Park Ridge boy following last week’s verdict in a wrongful-death lawsuit stretching back seven years.

A jury on March 8 found the city liable in the death of Maine South High School student Joseph Furio, who died Oct. 31, 2004, from a drug overdose.

JoAnn Abruzzo, Furio’s mother and administrator of his estate, filed the wrongful death lawsuit in 2005, alleging that Park Ridge paramedics had failed to properly evaluate her son and provide medical care when they responded to the first of two 911 calls from the Devon Avenue home of Furio’s father, Lawrence Furio. Eight hours after the first call paramedics responded to the residence a second time and transported an unconscious Furio to the hospital where he later died.