San Bernardino County Rejected Settlement, Then Took $6 Million Hit in Red-Light Crash Trial

A San Bernardino County jury awarded Rialto resident Emanuel Butler $6 million after finding an undercover county investigator entirely at fault for a 2020 red-light crash, a verdict plaintiff’s attorney Daniel Kramer of Kramer Trial Lawyers said also raises broader questions about the county’s pattern of refusing reasonable settlements only to face far larger losses at trial.

According to Kramer, Butler offered to settle the case for $500,000 in August 2022, despite already having more than $300,000 in medical expenses. Kramer said the county responded in December 2022 with an offer of $140,000 and never increased it. The case then went to trial, where jurors returned a verdict exceeding $6 million.

Kramer said Butler’s case was not an isolated example. He pointed to Florencio Munguia v. County of San Bernardino, in which, he said, the plaintiff offered to settle for $250,000 before a jury later returned a verdict of more than $11 million.

“I think it’s important for the public to know these cases had opportunities to settle reasonably,” Kramer said. “Instead, they were dragged out for years, and juries ultimately saw their true value.”

The verdict in Butler’s case stems from a Sept. 30, 2020, collision at the signal-controlled T-intersection of Third Street and Lena Road in San Bernardino. According to Kramer, Butler was driving eastbound on Third Street through a green light when the county investigator, traveling northbound on Lena Road and attempting a left turn, entered the intersection against a red light and crashed into Butler’s Ford F-150.

Kramer said the investigator initially claimed he had the green light and that Butler had the red light. He said the investigator maintained that version of events until testimony from an eyewitness who worked for the county contradicted it. According to Kramer, that witness testified the investigator — not Butler — ran the red light. Kramer said the jury ultimately found the investigator 100% at fault.

“This case is about accountability,” Kramer said. “This crash never should have happened. It began when an undercover law enforcement officer ran a red light, and it was made worse by false statements about what occurred. The jury saw through that. When public entities act unreasonably, both on the road and in the courtroom, there must be consequences.”

Butler said the verdict followed years of pain, medical treatment and uncertainty.

“This has been a long and difficult process, but I’m grateful the jury listened to the evidence and reached the right outcome,” Butler said. “I hope this brings accountability and helps prevent something like this from happening to someone else.”

Butler said he was on his way to help a friend’s elderly mother when the crash happened. At first, he said, he did not realize how serious his injuries were. Over time, he underwent surgery, received five epidural injections and learned he would likely need at least one spinal fusion, with the possibility of a second major back surgery in the future.

That decision has been complicated by Butler’s role as the primary caregiver for his father, a Navy veteran he has cared for since 2018. Kramer said Butler helps lift, bathe and care for his father daily, making it nearly impossible to step away for the extended recovery time a spinal fusion would require.

Kramer said Butler has continued helping others despite chronic pain, including assisting an elderly neighbor while under surveillance by a defense investigator. He said footage shown to jurors captured Butler visibly struggling, but still continuing to help.

“He never stops helping people,” Kramer said. “That’s just the kind of person he is. He has been living in chronic pain, and he still keeps showing up for other people.”

Before the crash, Butler said he lived an active life centered on sports and family. He said he played football, baseball and track, competed in track at San Bernardino Valley College and Cal Poly Pomona, later earned a business administration degree with a concentration in finance from Cal State San Bernardino, and coached his three sons in youth sports. One of the hardest parts of the injury, he said, is wondering whether he will be able to be as active with future grandchildren as he was with his own children.

Kramer also said the investigator was not required to wear a body camera or have dash camera footage because he was working undercover, making the eyewitness testimony especially important. According to Butler and Kramer, the San Bernardino Police Department — not county personnel — took the crash report at the scene.

Inland Empire Community News reached out to San Bernardino County’s chief communications officer and public information officer for comment on the verdict in Emanuel Butler’s case, including the jury’s finding that an undercover county investigator was 100% at fault in the Sept. 30, 2020, crash at Third Street and Lena Road. IECN also asked the county to respond to plaintiff’s counsel’s claim that the county has a pattern of declining reasonable settlement opportunities — including in the earlier Florencio Munguia case — only to face far larger jury verdicts later.