190 A.2d 607 | Conn. Super. Ct. | 1963
This is an action to recover damages for injuries to property alleged to have been caused by the negligence of John H. Gallant, minor son of Charles H. Gallant. Defendant Willie O. Gallant, although a named party defendant, was not proceeded against at the hearing.
By stipulation between the parties, the following facts are found: On December 30, 1961, the plaintiff was the owner of a 1962 Oldsmobile. On that *358 day, John H. Gallant, son of Charles H. Gallant, took the automobile of the plaintiff without the plaintiff's permission. On that date, while operating the plaintiff's vehicle at a high rate of speed, John H. Gallant caused the automobile to leave the highway and to strike a building at 219 Sedgwick Road, West Hartford, causing damage in the amount of $619.12 to the automobile. The negligence of the defendant John H. Gallant was the proximate cause of the injuries to the automobile of the plaintiff.
The issue in this case is whether the father of John H. Gallant is liable to the plaintiff for damages under the provisions of §
John H. Gallant was born on February 13, 1945, and, on some date prior to June 21, 1957, came under the jurisdiction of the Juvenile Court. The Juvenile Court is a court of record. General Statutes § 17-57. Its purpose, among other things, is to determine whether some child should be taken under the direct care of the state and its officials. It is true of the Juvenile Court, as of other courts of record, that in general its record is the only mouth through which it can speak. Atwood v. Lockwood,
A parent is under a duty to exercise reasonable care so to control his minor child as to prevent him from intentionally harming others or from so conducting himself as to create an unreasonable risk of bodily harm to them, if the parent (a) knows or has reason to know that he has the ability to control his child, and (b) knows or should know of the necessity and opportunity for exercising such control.Toohey v. Colonis,
For the reasons above stated, the issues are found for the plaintiff. Accordingly, judgment may enter for the plaintiff to recover from the defendants John H. Gallant and Charles H. Gallant the sum of $619.12 and his costs. Judgment may also enter for the defendant Willie O. Gallant, who may recover her costs.