It was a bad year for potholes in Omaha, and many drivers filed damage claims with the city. But Nebraska law states that in order for taxpayers to liable, a pothole must have been reported to the city and not fixed in a reasonable time.

A pothole flattened two tires on Dustin Slepicka's vehicle, but a letter from the city last week is what really left him deflated. After receiving a letter of denial on his pothole claim, he asked Six on Your Side to investigate.

“I hoped I would recoup some of my loss, but now — talking nine months later, and they’re saying no,” Slepicka said.

But he saw a loophole in his pothole damage claim.

The denial letter states there’s no evidence the city had notice of the defective road condition until April 5, but he hit the pothole on March 29 and while waiting on a tow truck, he Facebooked

.

"She seemed very nice," he said. "She asked for further clarification said they couldn’t find a pothole in that area, which — to me — means they’ve been notified."

That was a week before the city said it first became aware of the pothole, which raised questions about the timeline leading to the claim denial.

After Six on Your Side contacted

, and

who handled claims, we got an email back saying Slepicka's claim denial had been put in reverse.

"The claims division contacted street maintenance after your questions," the mayor’s office reply states. "The initial information provided law was not accurate. The pothole at this location was first reported on March 3rd. That’s 26 days before Dustin hit it."

Slepicka was pleased with the response.

“It makes me very happy that you looked into this and got them to look into it further,” he said.

A new letter from the city offered Slepicka $291 to reimburse him for towing two new tires and installation.

“And definitely around Christmas that’s a nice little Christmas bonus,” he said.

Slepicka said he glad he saved his Facebook messages to the mayor last March. While that led to reviewing the claim in this case, the city said it doesn’t accept reports of potholes through social media.