California Injury Blog

Published on: June 5, 2008

Fresno County Swimming Pool Fatality

By Brian Chase

An 18-month-old toddler, Bentley Colwell, drowned in a tragic Fresno swimming pool accident at his grandfather’s house in a Fig Garden neighborhood on the 600 block of East Saginaw Way, recently, according to an article in The Fresno Bee.

Bentley is believed to have fallen or jumped unnoticed, into the backyard swimming pool of the house in central Fresno near Wishon and Saginaw, said Cynthia Valdez, a police spokeswoman. The boy’s grandfather found him and pulled him out of the water. Bentley was pronounced dead at the Community Regional Medical Center. Valdez also reported there was no fence around the swimming pool or any evidence of safety measures.

This is truly a heartbreaking story and I offer my sincere condolences to the family.
Continue reading →

Published on: June 4, 2008

Bill Seeks To Tighten Ohio’s Vicious Dog Law

By Brian Chase

Tyrone Yates, an Ohio State Representative has introduced a bill that calls for a statewide ban on the pit bull breed, according to a recent report posted on Local12.com.

The change proposed to Ohio’s current vicious dog law would ban the ownership of a pit bull and require the dog warden to collect and euthanize any canines of this breed. A history of dog bite attacks involving pit bulls including a recent unprovoked attack by a family pit bull pet that ripped into a 12-year-old boy leaving bites to his feet, back, arms and legs prompted Yates to take action. Animal rights activists counter the bill saying the problem lies with the pit bull owners who train them to be violent. Yates recognizes the moral issues inherent to destroying a breed but is driven by his duty to public safety and is determined to keep these dogs off the street. If the bill doesn’t pass this time, Yates is determined to reintroduce it next year.
Continue reading →

Published on: June 3, 2008

Rollover Car Crash Injures Five In Costa Mesa

By Brian Chase

A car spun out of control on Merrimac Way near Adams Avenue and Fair Drive recently, and caused a horrific wreck, according to an article in The Orange County Register.

Garden Grove resident Tomas Narciso Torres, and four other male passengers were speeding northbound on Harbor Boulevard in a Dodge Neon sedan when they decided to change lanes to pass a slower vehicle and then lost control. Police said Torres had overcorrected the steering, making the car veer across the traffic lanes, hitting a tree and a parked SUV before landing on its roof. The orange county auto wreck injured only the Neon’s five occupants, all in their 20s. Their wounds ranged from minor to major. Torres who has a prior DUI conviction was later arrested on suspicion of felony DUI.
Continue reading →

Published on: June 2, 2008

Mission Viejo Auto Accident Victim Needs Help

By Brian Chase

The Mission Viejo/Saddleback Valley Elks Lodge is graciously helping 24-year-old Maya Oliver, who is in dire need of money for a prosthetic leg, according to an article in The Orange County Register.

Oliver suffered severe injuries in a Mission Viejo car accident last January. Her left leg had to be amputated from the knee down and what’s worse; Oliver does not have medical insurance.

We commend the Elks Lodge and other members of the Orange County community, including Rod Cuervo from Mission Prosthesis, who is donating his time to help Oliver with her prosthetic leg. We can only imagine what Oliver and her family must be going through at this time with mounting medical bills and little or no money to pay for them. At Bisnar Chase Personal Injury Attorneys, we have represented thousands of auto accident victims over the last 30 years. Some of them suffer minor to moderate injuries, others are hurt severely and suffer catastrophic injuries.
Continue reading →

Published on: May 31, 2008

Newport Beach Truck Causes Brake Failure Accident

By Brian Chase

Susan Cameron of Irvine was injured in an auto collision when her car was hit by a truck in Newport Beach at the intersection of Bristol and Birch streets. According to The Orange County Register.

A truck eastbound on Bristol Street and driven by Los Angeles resident Alejandro Ceja was unable to stop at the intersection’s red light as its brakes failed, hitting Cameron’s Corvette. Ceja was not injured in the crash.

My sympathies are with the injured in this car crash and I’m thankful there was no loss of life. The police investigation and the accident report will, of course, throw some light on how this accident happened and if Ceja’s account of the brake failure holds.

Continue reading →

Published on: May 30, 2008

Auto Accident Kills Costa Mesa Man

By Brian Chase

Chuck Gordillo, 50 years-old, of Costa Mesa, California, died recently after being struck by a car on the 10 Freeway near Haven Avenue in San Bernardino County. According to an article in The Orange County Register.

The Orange County resident was eastbound on the San Bernardino Freeway towing a trailer with a car on it. The hood of the towed car flew off and landed on the shoulder of the freeway prompting Gordillo to stop to retrieve it. A car that tried to avoid stopped freeway traffic swerved onto the shoulder hitting Gordillo, according to the Register.

This is a very tragic and unfortunate car accident. My condolences are with the Gordillo’s family and friends. Please let this accident be a reminder to us all of how dangerous it is go be out of a vehicle on a freeway, no matter where.

The California Highway Patrol is investigating this collision and will be issuing a Traffic Collision Report. In cases of traffic fatalities, like this one, the CHP is really good at thorough investigations; therefore it may take a few weeks to a few months for their Report to be issued.
Continue reading →

Published on: May 29, 2008

Laguna Hills Nursing Home Loses Negligence Case

By Brian Chase

An Orange County jury has awarded $1 million in punitive damages to the family of Mary Kathleen Adams, a 104-year-old woman who died when she briefly stayed at the Villa Valencia Care Center nursing home, the Orange County Register reported. This verdict comes a week after the same jurors delivered a $1 million verdict against Sunrise Senior Living, the company that owns Villa Valencia Care Center, for its roll in the death of Adams in March 2005.

According to the report, Adams admitted herself into the nursing home after she broke her leg. The lawsuit alleges that she developed pressure ulcers, which worsened because of nursing home staff neglect. The problem worsened when the nursing home did not perform adequate treatment such as daily skin checks. Adams’ children, Janice Borkovetz and Wendell Adams, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in December 2005. The lawsuit alleged Sunrise knowingly understaffed their facilities putting profits over people.
Continue reading →

Published on: May 29, 2008

Industrial Accident Crushes Orange County Worker

By Brian Chase

Randy Ribota, a 49-year-old worker died in an Anaheim workplace accident after he was crushed under a metal bin full of rocks at a CTI Telecom work site. According to an article in The Orange County Register.

Just before the fatal workplace accident Ribota was using a backhoe to load dirt and rubble into a machine that separates big pieces of rock from gravel. He had left the backhoe and was standing near the machine when its load of rock shifted and the bin tipped onto him and crushed him. Ribota died on the scene before the medics could get to him.

Officials from the California Division of Occupational Safety and Heath (CAL-OSHA) are investigating the industrial accident. Specifically, they are looking into what kind of safety training workers receive at CTI Telecom, a communications company which also does excavations for underground utility lines. The company, according to the news report, paid a $1,500 fine in 2004 for failing to have an injury and illness prevention program for its employees, not having a first-aid kit on their work site and not having an excavation permit.
Continue reading →

Published on: May 28, 2008

PCH Motorcycle Accident Injures L.A. Man

By Brian Chase

Wellington Flowers, a 50-year-old man was injured in a recent motorcycle crash near Route 1. According to a news report in The Ventura County Star.

Flowers, was just north of the Pacific Coast Highway, on Yerba Buena Road near Malibu when he hit the dirt shoulder and lost control of his bike as it rolled on its left side. The California Highway Patrol said the motorcycle accident happened in an unincorporated area. Flowers was badly injured in the motorcycle wreck with a collapsed lung and a broken collarbone and had to be airlifted to a nearby hospital.

This is a very sad and unfortunate incident for Flowers and I wish him a speedy recovery. Often, as a reader who comes across an accident of this type it is easy to assume a negligent or reckless driver was the cause. It is important to keep in mind that a number of other factors – a defect, or a pre-existing condition, or mechanical problems in the motorcycle, or even the condition of the road could have easily contributed to this wreck.
Continue reading →

Published on: May 27, 2008

Hollywood Hills SUV Crash Turns Fatal

By Brian Chase

An SUV accident in the Hollywood Hills on Monday, May 25th, near Crescent Drive killed an unidentified man in his 70s and a woman in her 20s, while critically injuring the driver of the vehicle, a woman in her 40’s according to an article in The L.A. Times.

Two people died and three others were critically injured in the wreck as a Range Rover sport-utility vehicle went off the narrow canyon road, rolled down the slope before stopping against the carport of a home. By the time the vehicle landed upside-down it had crashed into a house in the 8700 block of Duncamp Place, near Lookout Mountain Avenue and had injured the SUV’s driver, a woman in her 40s, the news report said. A toddler and another passenger suffered moderate injuries.

Los Angeles Police Capt. Nancy Lauer stated that the accident happened as the driver lost control after hitting a huge pothole. Fortunately, the child was properly restrained in a car seat, without which the child probably would have been ejected from the SUV as well. A torn sunroof helped the injured victims find a way out of the vehicle.
Continue reading →