San Francisco Officials Consider $15M Settlement in Park Death

San Francisco city officials are considering a $15.1 million payout to the family of a woman who was struck and killed by a city gardener while with her dog and baby at a park.

The city’s Recreation and Parks Commission voted last week in favor of the payment to Christine Svanemyr’s widower and child as part of a legal settlement recommended by the city attorney. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the settlement will now go before the Board of Supervisors.

Authorities say the 35-year-old Svanemyr was run over while she relaxed in the grass on Sept. 5 by a maintenance vehicle driven by Thomas Burnoski.

Burnoski has been charged with vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run.

His lawyer, Robert Waggener, has said Burnoski didn’t realize he had hit a person.