Newark sinkhole situation

A Belleville exterminator says he's underwater, and that he's the victim of a bureaucratic bungle courtesy of the largest city in New Jersey. The documentation debacle's wound up costing him nearly $5,000 and all kinds of aggravation.

Eight months ago a patch of blacktop was underwater.

"I was driving real slow," said Fred Zungri. "First thing I know, was 'bump,' then the truck just went down."

A four-foot deep sinkhole, hidden under a puddle of water, swallowed up plumber Fred Zungri's work van. Eyewitness News even covered the mishap.

Making matters worse, it could've been avoided. Fred says a van with a city water department employee parked on the side, simply watched as he drove into it.

"He just let you drive through it?" Eyewitness News reporter Nina Pineda asked.

"He let me drive through it," Zungri said.

The incident left his wallet sunk, costing him nearly $5,000 to fix his work truck.

"The door's smashed. The fender's smashed. The front's smashed," Zungri said.

To get paid back, Fred says he asked the city for a claim form. But he didn't get it until, "Almost a month after you called?" Pineda said.

"Yes," Zungri said.

Fred says he sent in his estimate, a police report, and the finished claim to the City of Newark by regular mail the very next day. But, "I tried to call, no response. I left voice mail? No response," Zungri said.

So he sent the claim in a second time, again using regular mail. And Fred says he called Newark's Law Department to follow up, which denied receiving anything.

"How could it get lost in the shuffle," Zungri said.

Then six months after the incident, the third time was the charm. But this time, Fred sent the claim form via certified mail to track it.

"That's when we got a response," Zungri said.

But Newark, denied his claim. The city said it didn't get his claim forms in time. (Newark requires claim forms be submitted within 90 days of the incident.)

After our pleas for a second look at Fred's case were ignored, 7 On Your Side went to the man whose name is on top of his denial letter.

"There was an incident where someone fell in a sinkhole," Pineda said.

"I wasn't the mayor then. You need to talk to the mayor then," Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said.

"Actually the rejection letter for the claim came from you," Pineda said.

"Yeah, but the incident happened when I wasn't here. We have to investigate," Mayor Baraka said.

Even though the city had 7 On Your Side's request to investigate for nearly two weeks. Fred says Mayor Baraka displayed the same "pass the buck" attitude he's fought for nearly a year.

"I just think we got the short end of the stick," Zungri said.

The big takeaway is to send all time-sensitive documents by using track-able mail like FedEx or certified mail. Fred's next step? He says he's going to take the city to court. We'll of course be there when he does.