The verdict in Anna Grace Tapia v. City of San Diego and Robert Dennis Eichelberger, San Diego Superior Court Case No. 37-2024-00014937-CU-PA-CTL, was returned Thursday, October 1, following a multiweek jury trial before Judge Blaine K. Bowman. Court records confirm that the verdict form was filed October 1 after jurors deliberated over portions of three days.
Tapia was represented by Micaela W. De La Cerda of San Diego personal injury law firm Batta Fulkerson, along with attorney Tanya Ortega of The Ortega Firm. The City of San Diego and Eichelberger were represented by Deputy City Attorney Kelly McGeehan, according to the court docket.
The case stems from an April 19, 2023 collision at La Jolla Boulevard and Tourmaline Street, near the border of Pacific Beach and La Jolla. Tapia was 25 when she was crossing La Jolla Boulevard in a marked crosswalk and was struck by a San Diego Lifeguard truck driven by San Diego Lifeguard Sergeant Robert Dennis Eichelberger, according to her attorneys. The City of San Diego's own litigation records confirm that Tapia sued after allegedly suffering personal injuries when she was struck by a vehicle while walking in a crosswalk.
The central fight at trial was not simply whether Tapia had been injured, but the severity and value of those injuries. Batta Fulkerson told SanDiegoVille that Tapia suffered significant injuries as a result of the collision, while the city maintained that she had suffered only soft-tissue injuries. During closing arguments, the firm says the City Attorney's Office recommended that jurors award Tapia approximately $75,000.
The jury saw the case very differently. After deliberations began following the close of the case, jurors returned their verdict Thursday afternoon and awarded Tapia approximately $5.64 million, according to Batta Fulkerson. That is more than 75 times the $75,000 award Tapia's attorneys say the city urged the jury to return - a difference of approximately $5.565 million.
The circumstances surrounding the collision also make the case particularly notable. Eichelberger was not driving a private vehicle when Tapia was struck. According to her attorneys, he was operating a City of San Diego Lifeguard truck while serving as a San Diego Lifeguard Sergeant, making the city itself a defendant in the resulting personal injury lawsuit.
The collision occurred at La Jolla Boulevard and Tourmaline Street, the heavily traveled coastal corridor leading toward Tourmaline Surfing Park and the northern end of Pacific Beach.
Tapia's lawsuit remained pending on the Superior Court docket immediately following the verdict, which is normal while a case moves through post-verdict proceedings. A jury verdict also does not necessarily equal the amount ultimately paid by the city, as post-trial motions, costs, interest, appeals or other proceedings can affect the final judgment.
But the disparity between the two sides' positions at trial is striking.
According to Batta Fulkerson, the city asked jurors to value Tapia's injuries at approximately $75,000.
The jury's answer was approximately $5.64 million.
SanDiegoVille is awaiting a copy of the two-page verdict form and will update this story with the jury's specific breakdown of damages once it becomes available.
For Tapia, Thursday's verdict comes more than three years after an ordinary walk through a marked Pacific Beach crosswalk ended with her being struck by a city lifeguard vehicle.
For the City of San Diego, it could become an extraordinarily expensive difference of opinion over what those injuries were worth.
Originally published on October 1, 2026.
