Baltimore pothole battle: A retiree’s fight against City Hall

[00:00:00]They need to pay me more money.

[00:00:02]>> Well, you know I can't talk about court, but what I will say is that when we drive cars, we know we have insurance.

[00:00:08]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:00:08]>> An 83-year-old retiree demanding the city pay for damage he says was caused by a pothole, and a mayor who can't discuss the claim.

[00:00:19]When a pothole on Patterson Avenue allegedly damaged Willie Johnson's Mercedes in February, he said he paid $831 for a new tire and a wheel alignment.

[00:00:30]Johnson says he spent a lifetime working hard for his money as a senior manager of distribution operations with the United States Postal Service.

[00:00:38]>> I think the city is responsible to to make sure that we have safe streets to drive.

[00:00:43]>> A few days after the incident, Johnson filed a claim with Baltimore City's Law Department seeking reimbursement.

[00:00:50]Instead, he received this letter.

[00:00:52]>> Therefore, your claim against the city of Baltimore is respectfully denied.

[00:00:58]>> My first uh instinct was that the city was bamboozling me.

[00:01:04]Uh just trying to pull a wool over my eyes using little technical terms just to get out of not paying me my money.

[00:01:12]>> In the letter, the city writes its Department of Transportation found no record of anyone reporting the pothole before Johnson hit it. Under Maryland law, the city writes it is only required to pay for damage if officials knew about a road defect and had a reasonable opportunity to fix it. Because the city says it had no prior notice of the pothole, Johnson's claim was denied.

[00:01:34]But, the city did explain to Johnson in a follow-up letter that the pothole was filled not long after he reported it.

[00:01:41]Johnson believes he's not the only one facing this issue.

[00:01:44]>> That's why I called uh Spotlight on Maryland because I'm quite sure that other people have had the same problem and uh wasn't reimbursed by the city.

[00:01:57]But by me speaking out about it, they should uh they should step forward and come with their denial letters.

[00:02:07]>> Scott Wyant in Maryland asked Baltimore City's Law Department how many pothole-related claims were filed in 2025 and so far in 2026, and how many were approved, denied, or remain pending.