Actress Sues City of Santa Monica Over Collission at ICE Rink

"Dumb and Dumber" actress Lisa Stothard is suing the city of Santa Monica over an ice skating collision at a city-owned seasonal rink that left her dependent on a wheelchair.

Stothard and her husband, actor Daniel Bernhardt, filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. She alleges negligence and premises liability, while he is suing for loss of consortium.

The suit seeks unspecified damages. However, in a claim filed prior to the suit, Stothard's damages were listed at more than $2 million.

A representative of the Santa Monica City Attorney's Office did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

According to the complaint, Stothard, 51, and the couple's daughter, Bella, went to ICE, a downtown ice skating rink, on Jan. 18 to celebrate another child's birthday. Many of the skaters were children and teens who were "skating at an excessive rate of speed, which was faster than safe," according to the suit.

City employees saw the risky skating, but did nothing to stop it, the plaintiffs allege.

Stothard says she decided to take her daughter and her friends off the ice to make sure they were not hurt. But as they were leaving, a boy who was "skating at a wildly excessive rate of speed slammed into (Stothard), dislocating her right ankle and breaking her leg in multiple places," according to the suit.

Stothard "collapsed under her weight and she fell onto the ice," then looked at her right foot and leg and "saw a grotesque sight. Her foot was folded up and out across her leg. (She) was in intense pain and felt sensations of numbness, burning and pins and needles in her leg," according to the complaint, which says Stothard feared she would lose circulation and that her right foot would have to be amputated.

Although she screamed for help, city employees were slow to come to her aid, the suit alleges. Paramedics eventually arrived and she was taken by ambulance to a hospital, according to the complaint.

X-rays showed Stothard's right ankle and leg were broken in three places, two of which were serious compound breaks, and a tendon was detached from the bone, according to the complaint.

"Since the operation, (Stothard) has been unable to walk," the suit says. "She currently requires a wheelchair in order to move around her home. (She) is unable to drive or perform her duties as Bella's mother or (Bernhardt's) wife."

The actress, whose film credits include roles in the 1998 Angelina Jolie film "Gia" and the 1996 film "Kingpin," also suffers from flashbacks and recurring nightmares, according to her lawsuit.

Bernhardt's credits include "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire."

--City News Service