CLARENCE, N.Y., April 8 (UPI) -- A New York state man with a fear of frogs only to find his property inundated with them after his property was flooded has won a $1.6 million judgment.
Paul Marinaccio has a 40-acre plot in Clarence that got turned into a wetland when a developer diverted water onto his property in 2000. With the water came the frogs, which Marinaccio, 65, told The Buffalo News he has feared since a child.
"I'm petrified of the little creatures," he said.
His phobia dates to when he was a child in an Italian vineyard, where his parents worked and was frightened by a man holding bullfrogs, the newspaper reported.
With the wetlands eventually covering 37 acres of his land, Marinaccio sued the Town of Clarence and the subdivision developer and eventually won a $1.6 million award. The case ended a couple of weeks ago when a state appellate court ruled he didn't have any punitive damages coming.
"I beat the government," he said.
