Leonard LaJoie was on his way across a Newberg parking lot to use a portable toilet when an acquaintance conjured up a practical joke: Andy Wilder thought it would be funny to bump LaJoie with his truck.

Problem was the joke turned into tragedy when Wilder ended up running over LaJoie’s right foot, crushing it. And that has forced LaJoie -- whose left leg had been amputated above the knee decades ago -- to use a wheelchair.

That’s all according to a $1.4 million lawsuit filed this week in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Wilder could not immediately be reached for comment.

The suit faults Wilder for what it describes as “using inexplicably bad judgment more common among 16 year olds than a man his age.” Wilder was 58 at the time of the June 2011 incident.

So was LaJoie, who as a young man, lost his left leg to an above-the-knee amputation in 1972. But that didn’t stop him from living what

, describes as “a tremendous life.”

LaJoie was trained as a welder, worked on ships in the Port of Portland and wasn’t afraid to climb to great heights, Gores said. At the time of the 2011 incident, he used a prosthetic leg and biked to work everyday at Newberg Hauling, where he comprised the one-man welding department.

“And then at age 58, this happens to him,” Gores said. “He’s got a crushed right foot, missing left leg and no job.”

LaJoie underwent two surgeries and missed a year of work. He then learned that his position was being phased out, Gores said.

The suit names Wilder as the defendant, and seeks $356,000 for past and future wages, $93,000 for medical expenses and $1 million for pain and suffering.

No criminal charges were filed against Wilder. Gores said Wilder didn't mean to run over LaJoie.

-- Aimee Green