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Man Sues After 600-Pound Crucifix Crushes His Leg in Bizarre Church Accident

Nov. 7, 2012 8:54am Billy Hallowell

A bizarre church accident has led David Jimenez, 45, to sue St. Patrick’s Church in Newburgh, New York. The tragedy unfolded in May 2010, when a giant, 600-pound crucifix fell on Jimenez, crushing his leg and requiring a subsequent amputation. As a result, he is now taking the church to court, demanding money as a result of the incident.

According to The Associated Press, a trial is scheduled for January in Orange County Court. Jimenez’s attorney, Kevin Kitson, told the wire service that his client, before losing his leg, prayed outside of the crucifix after finding out that his wife was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. After she recovered, recognizing the significance of the cross, the pizza worker decided to help clean the structure.

WCBS-TV has more:

“David attributed the cure to his devotion to that cross,” Kitson told WCBS-TV, explaining that his client received permission to clean the stone structure out of gratitude.

It was during this process that Jimenez was seriously injured. As a result, he is now claiming that he is unable to work and he’s seeking $3 million from St. Patrick’s. Kitson is arguing that the cross was barely held in place by a single, “useless” screw and that the church is, thus, responsible.

“The screw was useless. The screw is useless. It supported no anchoring system,” he explained.

Despite the church’s insurance company not yet being willing to settle, St. Patrick’s has collected food and nearly $7,000 in funds for Jimenez and his family in an effort to assist them following the tragic accident.

Jimenez, a deeply-religious man, is hopeful that the court will rule in his favor.

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Comments (39)

tommy.tommy
Posted on November 24, 2012 at 10:42am
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.

The above is a traditional shortened verbiage for the 2nd Commandment.
The actual text from Exodus 20:4-6 (NKJV) is:

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image–any likeness of anything that is in the heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”
These are false idols of Jesus, and Mary. Plus, the filthy catholics worships body parts, to. That’s what? The filthy catholic church worships and their followers, to. The filthy catholic church is the deceivers.

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davecorkery
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 9:47am
He’s obviously following the wrong god. Allah is the right one. Must be, since there are more muslims than christians now.

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captainbars
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 8:26am
1 Corinthians 6:1-8 Brothers (Christians) aren’t to take one another to court. He volunteered to clean the cross–that “one little screw” gave way because he was climbing all over the structure, which might have stood another 20 yrs until he fooled with it. The church was helping him, and now he slaps them in the face.

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Gourdy
Posted on November 7, 2012 at 3:08pm
This was a clear act of God. No free settlement money for you, sir!

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SquidVetOhio
Posted on November 7, 2012 at 11:54am
It’s almost like God knew what He was talking about when He said, “Do not make unto Me any graven image”.

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- by faith
  Posted on November 7, 2012 at 5:56pm
  You mean the same God who, five chapters later commands the Israelites to make two golden statues of angels as part of the lid of the Ark of the Covenant (Ex 25:17-19). That’s an image of something from heaven. Then, in 1 Kings 6, God commands that graven images of flowers and palm trees be made, as well as 15-foot tall statues of cherubim. And in Numbers 21, God commands that a bronze serpent be made and uses it to heal the Israelites. It was preserved for 800 years and then destroyed when some began to worship it (2 Kgs 18:4).
  
  Report this comment
- by faith
  Posted on November 7, 2012 at 6:07pm
  During a plague of serpents sent to punish the Israelites during the exodus, God told Moses to “make [a statue of] a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it shall live. So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live” (Num. 21:8–9).
  One had to look at the bronze statue of the serpent to be healed, which shows that statues could be used ritually, not merely as religious decorations.
  
  Report this comment
- PaxInVeritate
  Posted on November 8, 2012 at 2:52pm
  BY FAITH… good to see you back.
  
  Report this comment
Mr.Fitnah
Posted on November 7, 2012 at 11:24am
2010 can you tell me about some random act from 1987?
Something that wasn’t rehashed last month ?

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- Eastinfection
  Posted on November 7, 2012 at 12:01pm
  I can….
  On October 11, 1987… Def Leppard played Hartford Civic Center. Tesla was the opening act.
  It was my 1st concert.
  
  Report this comment
- Mr.Fitnah
  Posted on November 8, 2012 at 6:00am
  Rock on.
  
  Report this comment
WhiteFang
Posted on November 7, 2012 at 11:08am
Exodus 20:4-5

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- by faith
  Posted on November 7, 2012 at 5:58pm
  Exodus 25: 17-19
  1 Kings 6
  2 Kings 18: 14
  
  Report this comment
- by faith
  Posted on November 7, 2012 at 6:06pm
  Anti-Catholic writer Loraine Boettner, in his book Roman Catholicism, makes the blanket statement, “God has forbidden the use of images in worship” (281). Yet if people were to “search the scriptures” (cf. John 5:39), they would find the opposite is true.
  God forbade the worship of statues, but he did not forbid the religious use of statues.
  Instead, he actually commanded their use in religious contexts!
  
  Report this comment
- WhiteFang
  Posted on November 7, 2012 at 6:57pm
  by faith,
  Exodus 25: 17-19, That is describing the design of the Ark of the Covenant Covering lid. Only the High priest was to be able to view this Ark once a year.
  
  1 Kings 6, This describes the design features of the Temple.
  
  2 Kings 18:14, What is your point for this scripture?
  
  Where do you get the idea these scriptures are encouraging worship of the design features?
  
  Report this comment
- by faith
  Posted on November 8, 2012 at 9:59am
  Open your closed mind and read what is there not what you want to see.
  Many non-Catholic Christians use the passage you refer to, Exodus 20:4-5, to “prove” to Catholics that making “any graven images or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath” is detestable to God. But when this passage is read in context, it is not the making of images that is condemned but the worship of them.
  In fact, five chapters later God commands the Israelites to make two golden statues of angels as part of the lid of the Ark of the Covenant (Ex 25:17-19). That’s an image of something from heaven. Then, in 1 Kings 6, God commands that graven images of flowers and palm trees be made, as well as 15-foot tall statues of cherubim. And in Numbers 21, God commands that a bronze serpent be made and uses it to heal the Israelites. It was preserved for 800 years and then destroyed when some began to worship it (2 Kgs 18:4).
  Catholics do not worship statues, because only God is deserving of adoration. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is adamant in affirming this (CCC 2112–2114). When a Catholic bows to a statue, he is not worshiping it any more than King Solomon worshiped Bathsheba when he bowed to her in 1 Kings 2:19. In other words, the honor given to images does not detract from the honor that is due to God. After all, if one member of the body is honored, the others should share in its joy (1 Cor 12:26).
  
  Report this comment
- by faith
  Posted on November 8, 2012 at 10:01am
  If someone enters your house, he should expect to find a picture of your mother. So, when someone walks into a Catholic Church—the household of God—he should not be surprised to find a picture of the mother of God, along with the rest of the heavenly family!
  In giving the Israelites a beautiful temple strewn with images (1 Kgs 6), God acknowledged the reason why he gave us our senses: to use them to worship him in spirit and truth.
  
  Some anti-Catholics appeal to Deuteronomy 4:15–18 in their attack on religious statues: “[S]ince you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth.”
  We’ve already shown that God doesn’t prohibit the making of statues or images of various creatures for religious purposes (cf. 1 Kgs. 6:29–32, 8:6–66; 2 Chr. 3:7–14). But what about statues or images that represent God? Many Protestants would say that’s wrong because Deuteronomy 4 says the Israelites did not see God under any form when he made the covenant with them, therefore we should not make symbolic representations of God either. But does Deuteronomy 4 forbid such representations?
  
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jrc99
Posted on November 7, 2012 at 10:17am
Talk about an Act of God! ;-)

But seriously sorry he lost his leg. :-(

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- Cesium
  Posted on November 7, 2012 at 11:06am
  shouldn’t this kind of thing happen to atheists? The guy was praying to god!
  
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- Winedude
  Posted on November 7, 2012 at 11:34am
  Hey cesium…now you have a great example of the uselessness of praying to some mythical diety. It cost this poor soul his leg, unfortunately. Good that the church has already tried to help but it obviously isn’t enough. This is why the church carries liability insurance…
  
  Report this comment
- ThatsJustCrazyTalk
  Posted on November 7, 2012 at 12:46pm
  @Cesium: You don’t know that it didn’t happen to an Atheist. It happened for a reason. Maybe, to punish the Church? Maybe, to punish the guy? A lot of people pray to false gods.
  
  Report this comment
jman-6
Posted on November 7, 2012 at 9:53am
The Power of the Cross!! While it doesn’t surprise me David fails to see this, I hope that GOD will allow him to understand it. Shouldn’t be suing unless there is no other way to settle this amicably.

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- ThatsJustCrazyTalk
  Posted on November 7, 2012 at 12:47pm
  Agreed!
  
  Report this comment
Alpha Protocol
Posted on November 7, 2012 at 9:32am
He lost his leg, and got to keep his wife…

Ungrateful wretch.

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Iamaduck
Posted on November 7, 2012 at 9:30am
That guy Jesus the Christ is angry that Obama won.

Obama!

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- jman-6
  Posted on November 7, 2012 at 9:58am
  Jesus is Lord and not just some guy!! You would be better served to seek Him out than blaspheme His name!! Every knee shall bow and Every tongue shall confess He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords!!
  
  Report this comment
- Iamaduck
  Posted on November 7, 2012 at 10:04am
  @j-man What he is waiting for to show himself? Unless of course he is not real and Jesus was just some guy who have his little gang.
  
  Report this comment
- SquidVetOhio
  Posted on November 7, 2012 at 11:58am
  @DUCK
  
  That guy with a little gang never left 100 miles of His birthplace and owned nothing. Yet, He has been worshiped and loved by billions of people for 2000 years and you are just a schmuck on the internet. Go figure.
  
  Report this comment
- Iamaduck
  Posted on November 7, 2012 at 12:06pm
  @ohio billions of stupid people you mean. The devil is in the details.
  
  Report this comment
- 4truth2all
  Posted on November 7, 2012 at 3:41pm
  Yo Quack,Quack:
  
  The devil is a deceiver, so the details are confused
  but then you think you’re a duck ….
  do I need a duck whistle for you to hear?
  
  Report this comment
Tigress1
Posted on November 7, 2012 at 9:22am
Add your comments

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- Iamaduck
  Posted on November 7, 2012 at 9:31am
  Spot on Tigre.
  
  Report this comment
Eastinfection
Posted on November 7, 2012 at 9:01am
In my Jesuit High School Art class, a 12 lb crucifix hung by a thumb tack once fell of the wall and shattered.
My Art teacher made us spend the remainder of class reciting “Hail Marys”..

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- Eastinfection
  Posted on November 7, 2012 at 9:07am
  edit: “of” –> “off”
  
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- The Jewish Avenger
  Posted on November 7, 2012 at 10:21am
  Ironically, When Obama became president I have two accounts that the nails on the crucifix came off and Jesus fell leaving behind just the hanging cross.
  
  I cant imagine what else is going to fall since Maine is now the first state to vote for same sex marriage by popular vote….
  
  Shame really.
  
  Report this comment
- Eastinfection
  Posted on November 7, 2012 at 10:49am
  the real shame is that the government has any power to legislate marriage at all..
  Want to get married? join a church.
  Gay and want to get married? join a church that endorses your lifestyle.
  
  leave the government out of it.
  
  Report this comment
Ilikepeople
Posted on November 7, 2012 at 8:58am
I guess he shouldn’t have prayed to an image, and that’s what God told him, but he didn’t like God telling him that so he is suing the church.

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- Eastinfection
  Posted on November 7, 2012 at 9:10am
  Hello ILIKEPEOPLE…
  
  that’s a clever perspective though i doubt the image fell due to heresy… most likely mankind failed to secure it properly… faith in man was the “victim’s” downfall… ;)
  
  Report this comment
- 4truth2all
  Posted on November 7, 2012 at 7:01pm
  Yo Ilikepeople:
  
  It’s a race … and God is in control of the “accidents” too!
  
  Report this comment

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