San Diego is paying out nearly $1.5 million to settle lawsuits alleging the mishandling of a mental health patient, crashes involving city vehicles, bite injuries from a police dog and a sewer leak. The largest payout — $500,000 — is going to the family of Kurt Heitman, who was killed in 2018 af ter he caused a high-speed crash in the carpool lane of Interstate 805 that left him and two other people dead. On the day of the incident, Heitman’s family lobbied San Diego police to take him in for a mental health evaluation, contending he was a danger to himself and others. According to court documents, three SDPD officer determined there was not probable cause to take Heitman. In addition to the payout, the city agreed to revise its procedures for such situations. In a third payout, Lillian Johnson is getting $450,000 for injuries she suffered in a crash that happened when she made a U-turn in front of a police patrol car that was speeding with lights flashing and sirens activated. The crash, which took place about 11 p.m. on Sept. 2, 2022, happened on a residential section of College Avenue between Montezuma Road and El Cajon Boulevard. Johnson argued the patrol car was traveling 59 mph in a 35 mph zone. A payout of $250,000 is going to the Patel family for damage to the lower level of their Point Loma home during a September 2022 sewage spill blamed on a nearby sewer main that was built in 1948. According to court documents, raw sewage came up through the toilet, shower, tub and sink of the bottom floor bathroom and flooded through the lower floor of the house, which is located on Bangor Street. Guadalupe Isais is receiving a payout of $200,000 for injuries she suffered when she was hit by a city truck on northbound 54th Street near Pirotte Drive in Oak Park. Isais said she suffered a traumatic brain injury, along with injuries to her back, neck, hip and right knee and exacerbation of a lumbar spine condition. Charlotte Estrada-Pepper, a minor, is getting an $85,000 payout because she was bitten by a police dog when her uncle, a San Diego police officer, failed to lock a vehicle with the dog inside. The officer was visiting his mother after a SWAT event, and while they were talking his 9-year-old niece reached into the vehicle and was bitten on her upper arm and injured. The City Council is scheduled to approve each of the payouts in open session Tuesday. They have all been previously approved in sessions closed to the public. ...read more read less