On September 15, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors consented to a $5 million settlement over a 2017 lawsuit involving a patrol vehicle that killed two boys, 7 and 9 years old, on a sidewalk.
According to a charge evaluation worksheet provided by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, the tragic incident happened at around 7:25 p.m. on November 16, 2017, when a patrol trainee, along with a veteran by her side, was responding to a call involving a shooting. The trainee was driving a 2015 Ford Explorer SUV about 14 mph when a Honda Accord smashed it and then swung and hit another stopped car. The SUV had its emergency lights on as it rushed through a red light at the intersection of Indiana Street and Whittier Boulevard.
The SUV, after colliding with the Accord, accelerated to about 22 mph, and the driver tried to deviate the vehicle to avoid hitting the pedestrians but struck a 7-year old and his 9-year-old brother, who were going back home from school with their mother, and two other pedestrians, along with a trash bin that hit someone else.
The 7-year old boy died at the scene, and his brother sustained fatal injuries, whereas their mother suffered from a crushed pelvis and broken bones, and six other people were also injured.
A lawsuit was filed against the county and the trainee by the mother and other plaintiffs claiming that the trainee was trained improperly and acted recklessly. Traffic investigators called the action "without due regard for the safety of all persons on the highway" and concluded that the accident happened as the trainee rushed through the red light without having both lights on and a siren to alert pedestrians and other vehicles to make a way.
Criminal charges were declined against the trainee, stating that more would be required to prove that her actions rose to criminal negligence or ordinary negligence.
In a similar incident of 2012, a truck driver who was driving a pickup truck rammed into a school van that was carrying the school basketball team. The crash resulted in the instant death of the truck driver and the two coaches of the team out of which one was driving the van. Even the students suffered injuries due to the crash.
