LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A Sacramento man has won a $2 million jury verdict against the county of Lake for a September 2014 crash in which he was hit head-on by a sheriff’s deputy who lost control of his patrol vehicle.

On Nov. 2, following a five-week trial, a jury unanimously decided that the county was liable for damages totaling approximately $2,047,274 for the crash that injured 31-year-old Marc Loberg.

“Physically I will never be the same, but knowing the jury understood what I went through, and what I am still going through in deciding their verdict means a lot to me,” Loberg said.

“Mr. Loberg fought against the odds and placed his faith in the hands of 12 people to obtain justice. The jury agreed with Mr. Loberg issuing a unanimous verdict that the county of Lake was liable for the crash,” said Loberg’s attorney, Jesse Chrisp.

Asked about what the county may do in response to the verdict, County Counsel Anita Grant told Lake County News, “As for next steps, this is still an ongoing matter so I can’t comment at this time as to what actions the County may or may not consider.”

Chrisp acknowledged that the county has the right to appeal the case. However, he added, “If the county chooses to resolve this case it will allow our client to move on with his life in a positive direction.”

The crash occurred during rainy conditions on the morning of Sept. 18, 2014, as Lake County News has reported.

Loberg, on his way home from attending a wedding, was driving eastbound in a 2002 Honda Accord on Highway 20 near Bruner Drive east of Lucerne when he was hit head-on by a sheriff’s Ford Crown Victoria patrol car driven by Deputy Richard Kreutzer.

Kreutzer was on patrol but not responding to an emergency when he collided head-on with Loberg at an estimated 50 miles per hour.

Chrisp said that, as a result of the crash, Loberg was “catastrophically injured.”

Loberg was taken by ambulance to Sutter Lakeside hospital where he was diagnosed and treated for a severely shattered wrist that was deformed and disfigured, a concussion, severe abdominal bruising, and a shattered ankle joint that turned arthritic and will need to be fused in the future, Chrisp said.

The original crash reports said Kreutzer suffered minor injuries, specifically, a forehead laceration.

Chrisp said the county denied liability for the crash at trial and denied all of Loberg’s claims.

The county said that Kreutzer lost control due to no fault of his own and blamed the wet roadway as the cause. Kreutzer also claimed that he only accelerated slightly that day and was not a cause of the crash.

Evidence presented during the trial showed that Kreutzer, who was driving westbound, was attempting to go around a semi truck that had just pulled over in a turnout.

As shown in the dashcam video above, when the truck pulled over, it gave Kreutzer a narrow space to move around it as traffic in the opposite lane approached.

Data collected from the patrol cruiser’s electronic data recorder or “black box” showed that Kreutzer had applied 100-percent of the gas pedal as he accelerated to move around the truck.

At that point, Kreutzer lost control of the patrol car, which in the dashcam video appeared to fishtail across the oncoming lane of Highway 20. Kreutzer corrected to go back into the westbound lane, at which time his vehicle and Loberg’s collided head-on.

Testifying in support of Loberg was Dr. Eric Rossetter, a Stanford-educated Ph.D. in mechanical engineering who works as an accident reconstructionist.

Rossetter stated that Kreutzer lost control of his vehicle from his rapid acceleration from full throttle on the wet road.

After the jury concluded that the county was liable for the crash, it was asked to determine what was fair and reasonable monetary damages based on the past harm and long-term harm that Loberg is going to suffer as a result of the crash, Chrisp said.

To determine harm, Chrisp said the jury was presented with multiple days of expert testimony provided by medical doctors, including a treating orthopedic surgeon who was past chief of staff for surgery at Sonoma Valley Hospital, a local podiatric surgeon, and the reading radiologist who is also the team radiologist for the Oakland A’s and UC Berkeley athletic teams.

Chrisp said the doctors explained the medical procedures that had already been performed, and the future medical procedures needed.

The county presented its own expert medical testimony from an orthopedic surgeon from San Francisco who denied Loberg would need any further treatment.

Chrisp said Loberg and his family also provided testimony as to how the crash and the injuries had affected his life.

So far, Loberg has undergone three surgeries for his wrist, and his treating doctors testified he will need four future surgeries including a total wrist fusion, and a subtalar joint fusion fusing his heel bone with his ankle, Chrisp said.

“After these surgeries Mr. Loberg’s range of motion and movement will be severely limited in the wrist and ankle. He will also have pain and discomfort for life. These injuries and a total of seven surgeries add up to a catastrophic amount of harm,” Chrisp said.

He said the crash has “changed the trajectory” of Loberg’s life, “and the jury recognized that fact in its verdict.”

Because Loberg is young and has injuries considered to be lifelong, Chrisp said the verdict is reasonable under the law, which asks the jury to provide compensation for a total of 47 years. He said the jurors had to balance the harm with their verdict.

Loberg said he was “very shocked and disappointed” that the county disputed the facts about Kreutzer’s actions that day, despite the black box data.

“I can understand the county has a right to defend against frivolous lawsuits, but I feel the county should have taken this case and my injuries more seriously and recognized they were in the wrong this time. I’m grateful to the Jurors for their time and diligence in standing up to the county for me,” Loberg said.

Grant said the amount the county has been ordered to pay “is a covered loss under our CSAC-Excess Liability Authority membership.”

The insurance authority is a member-directed insurance risk sharing pool that assists California public entities, according to its Web site.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.