A Connecticut tenant who won a $1.6 million (£1.23 million) court award after tripping over construction debris outside his unlit apartment building has still not received any money from his former landlord, according to his lawyer.
Michael Criscuolo, 65, suffered a serious foot injury that eventually led to the amputation of one of his toes. The incident happened outside his apartment at 23 Argonne Terrace in Seymour, Connecticut, in May 2024. After his landlord failed to respond to a personal injury lawsuit, Superior Court Judge H. Gordon Hall issued a default judgment awarding Criscuolo $1.6 million in damages in January 2026. However, the landlord is now appealing the decision, delaying payment indefinitely.
According to the Valley Independent Sentinel, Criscuolo's attorney, Sean Stokes of Riscassi & Davis, P.C., confirmed that the former landlord has not paid any part of the judgment. "What happened to Mr Criscuolo happens all the time. People get injured because there's a defect on a property, or they slipped on ice, that happens," Stokes told the Valley Independent Sentinel. "The difference is most of the time we have landlords and property owners that are responsible and either carry insurance coverage, or are self-insured, or show up in court when a case is filed.
None of that happened here."
Late-night fall leads to severe medical complications
The incident happened on May 24, 2024, at around 11 p.m. Criscuolo was walking from his three-story apartment building toward the property's parking lot. According to court documents cited by the Valley Independent Sentinel, the walkway and parking area had no lighting and were covered with construction materials left behind during building renovations. Criscuolo hit his foot against an exposed concrete footing hidden among the debris.
The impact caused a deep wound on his foot. The wound later developed a serious infection, and doctors had to amputate one of his toes. Court records show that Criscuolo faced about $652,000 (£500,000) in medical bills for the injury and the surgeries that followed. In May 2025, Criscuolo filed a lawsuit against the property's owner, SL Seymour, LLC. He claimed that the landlord had failed to manage the property properly and keep it safe for residents.
Default judgment and late legal appeals
Neither SL Seymour, LLC nor its sole managing member, Sim Levenhartz, responded to the lawsuit or appeared in court. As a result, Judge Hall issued a default judgment in Criscuolo's favour. After a formal hearing to determine the amount of damages, the court awarded him $1.6 million in January 2026. Four months after the judgment was issued, a lawyer representing Levenhartz asked the court to reopen the case. Legal representative Kenneth Rozich argued on Levenhartz's behalf that the landlord had not been properly served with the original lawsuit papers.
Judge Hall rejected the request to reopen the case, ruling that the legal papers had been properly delivered under Connecticut law. Levenhartz then appealed the judge's decision, leaving the case tied up in the state's higher courts. When the Valley Independent Sentinel contacted Rozich about the appeal, he declined to comment on the ongoing case.
Widespread municipal fines and property issues
Investigations by local news outlets found a wider pattern of property violations and unpaid town debts linked to the landlord and the Seymour building.
According to municipal records obtained by the Valley Independent Sentinel, the nine-unit building on Argonne Terrace is now empty, with its windows boarded up. Town officials said the property has about $40,000 in unpaid municipal fines for blight, along with roughly $15,600 in unpaid property taxes.
Local building inspectors had also issued a stop-work order at the property in 2025 after finding that engineering certificates submitted for the renovation work were invalid. In addition, an August report by the New Haven Independent noted that Levenhartz faces an active arrest warrant in nearby New Haven over alleged building code violations. The report also stated that he owes $259,000 in municipal blight liens linked to other residential properties he owns. Stokes said the landlord's failure to respond to court notices appears to be part of a pattern of avoiding financial responsibilities. "What we found ultimately is he appears to be doing whatever he can to avoid these types of responsibilities in the State of Connecticut," Stokes told the Valley Independent Sentinel. "The City of New Haven is having a horrible time collecting blight liens from him. My client is unfortunately part of that story." As the appeal moves through Connecticut's court system, Criscuolo's judgment remains unpaid, and the property continues to sit empty.