The gentle purring of an air-conditioner makes Henry Jontony miserable.

A crying baby in a restaurant? Forget it. The 53-year-old former carpenter is liable to get up and scream at the child's parents "Shut that kid up," according to his lawyers, Mark Obral and Thomas Silk.

Jontony suffers from a mild traumatic brain injury, caused by a crash with a Strongsville police cruiser, and his permanently altered personality prompted a jury on Friday to award him and his wife, Patricia, more than $1 million in damages.

The jurors took less than two hours to reach their verdict in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.

The crash occurred four days before Christmas in 2006. Jontony was driving to a convenience store for fruit. A police officer, responding to a non-emergency call, made an improper left turn into Jontony's path. Both cars were total losses.

Jontony filed suit against Strongsville in December 2008, arguing that his injuries from the crash stole his social inhibitions against inappropriate public behavior, and sometimes causes him to lash out at his wife and children, "The accident caused changes in his memory and personality," Silk said. "It inhibited his ability to communicate and to filter out background noises. He no longer is able to appreciate what is appropriate social behavior and what isn't."

At first, though, Jontony's injuries seemed no more serious than a bump on the forehead.

Jontony was treated for a mild concussion and released that same day from a hospital. But his symptoms progressively got worse, and he was eventually declared permanently disabled.

Strongsville law director Kenneth Kraus said city policy forbids him from commenting on pending cases.

"However, the city is disappointed with the verdict and level of damages recently awarded against it in this case," Kraus said. "The city, along with its legal counsel and insurance carrier, will be considering various available legal alternatives at this point."