Dori Monson and the Seattle crack conspiracy

It was an average, uneventful workday at the offices of KIRO Radio when a driverless truck coasted down a nearby hill and slammed into the side of the building.

But that wasn’t the greatest tragedy that would befall the station that day.

“I fell down like an 80-year-old man … on my knee, on my elbow!” said KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson.

Dori was among the crowd to gather outside KIRO Radio’s Eastlake office building to take a look at the crash scene. And as he was inspecting the damage the truck caused to a fence, he tripped on a crack in the sidewalk.

“There is about an inch and a half crack in the sidewalk, where one side of the crack is an inch and half higher than the other side…and I pivot on the crack, and I don’t have any ligaments in my left ankle anyway because I’ve blown it out so many times,” Dori said. “And I fell all the way down on the ground, on the sidewalk. I was sprawled out on the sidewalk!”

And as he was sprawled out on the cold concrete sidewalk &#8212 embarrassed from his fall &#8212 Dori knew who was to blame: the City of Seattle.

“Maybe because of my criticism of [Seattle Transportation Director] Scott Kubly, they have put a crack in the sidewalk right outside the door I enter and exit from every day, and I fell to the ground,” he said. “I might have a cracked elbow right now. I might have a busted kneecap.”

“The City of Seattle has attacked me,” Dori said. “They have been trying to figure out a way to get back at me for all my criticism … I was attacked brutally and mercilessly by the City of Seattle.”

Dori was crafting his lawsuit as his radio show continued, however, it was pointed out that in some areas, the business operating at the location is responsible for the upkeep of sidewalks. Or, at least, the property owner.

“Some people say that it’s the business, the building owner who is responsible for the sidewalk, not the City of Seattle,” Dori said.

“That could make things uncomfortable for my next contract negotiation,” he said.