Opinion
December 16, 1999
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Emily Goodman, J.), entered May 15, 1998, which, inter alia, denied plaintiff's motion for summary judgment as to liability, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
Christopher J. Soltys, for plaintiff-appellant.
John P. Rooney, for defendant-respondent.
NARDELLI, J.P., TOM, MAZZARELLI, WALLACH, BUCKLEY, JJ.
In this action by a subrogation plaintiff to recover the value of a vehicle bailed to defendant's parking garage, defendant submitted competent proof in opposition to plaintiff's summary judgment motion, showing that the vehicle was stolen at gunpoint, thus raising a triable issue in response to plaintiff's prima facie case. The police report of the theft was based on information from defendant's now deceased garage attendant, who had a business duty imposed by his employer to report such events to the police (see, CPLR 4518[a];Matter of Leon RR, 48 N.Y.2d 117, 122-123). Given the admissibility of the police report, a more detailed signed statement of the criminal incident by the deceased employee to what appears to be an insurance investigator, as well as two depositions containing considerable hearsay, were also properly considered in opposition to the motion (see, Guzman v. L.M.P. Realty Corp., 262 A.D.2d 99, 691 N.Y.S.2d 483; Koren v. Weihs, 201 A.D.2d 268).
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.