Judge denies city of Annapolis’ appeal of $300,000 judgment in man’s 2017 bike crash

A judge has dismissed an appeal by City of Annapolis attorneys in a long-running personal injury case brought by a man who crashed his bike on a city storm drain in 2017. In an opinion released Thursday, Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Richard R. Trunnell denied an appeal filed by Assistant City Attorney Joel Braithewaite, arguing that a jury erred in awarding a $300,000 judgment to Matthew Hager, of Annapolis, after he suffered serious facial injuries when his bike tire got caught in a gap in a city storm drain on Chinquapin Round Road.