A Chatsworth jury has awarded $21.9 million for the families of two teens who were involved in a fatal Nov. 20, 2019, crash that killed two high school students and left a third seriously wounded.
The jury found that Eugene Oh, who drove his 2002 white Acura sedan into the back of a Republic Services trash truck at 1:40 p.m. on Sepulveda Boulevard, was 65% responsible for the crash, according to a special verdict form issued by the jury on Nov. 4. That crash resulted in the death of Oh, his front-seat passenger, Sebastien “Bash” Gallegos, who was a recent West Ranch High graduate, and a brain injury for Angel Sanchez, who sat in the back seat.
However, the jury also found that negligence was shared by Consolidated Disposal Services (a Republic LLC), and the trash truck’s driver, Logan Jose Lizares.
Kim and Alex Gallegos became emotional speaking about the loss of their son in a Zoom call Monday following last week’s verdict, with Kim describing the pain “still as fresh as if (the crash) was yesterday.” But despite the pain, there’s still hope for a purpose from their tragic loss, she said.
“So that (pain) will never go away. But if we can find ways to hold Consolidated Disposal, Republic (Services) and other large corporations that are governed by these federal mandates that help to save lives, so that other people never have to feel what we feel, then we feel that Bash … if that’s how he’s leaving his mark in this world, we will be happy to join and be a part of that, so that other people never have to go through this. That’s what we’re hopeful for.”
A statement from the Republic Services Media Relations team Monday referred to the incident as a “tragic accident” in an email.
“While we respectfully disagree with any measure of fault towards our driver or company, our thoughts remain with those involved,” the message added.
The statement declined to answer a question on whether the company would appeal, but the other parties would have 60 days to appeal once a formal judgment has been entered, according to Katherine Harvey-Lee of California Truck Injury Law and Alan Van Gelder of Greene Broillet & Wheeler LLP, two of the attorneys who represented Gallegos and Sanchez and took part in Monday’s Zoom call.
‘Tragic accident’
The federal mandates that Kim Gallegos were referring to involve what are commonly known as “Mansfield bars,” which are safety devices in large, raised trucks that prevent much smaller vehicles from sliding underneath them.
Also known as an underride guard, they became a National Highway Traffic Safety recommendation following the crash that caused Jayne Mansfield’s death in 1967.
The Gallegos and Sanchez families’ attorneys argued that the underride guard on the truck involved in Oh’s crash was not functioning properly, and if it had been, it would have prevented the deaths of Gallegos and Oh and the serious traumatic brain injury sustained by Sanchez.
Prior to the crash, Oh was heading north on San Fernando Road in the right-most lane when the car in front of him slowed down, near Sepulveda.
Oh attempted to go around the car by getting behind the truck, according to the complaint, but the garbage truck was being driven “at least 15 miles per hour or more slower than the speed limit of 45 mph, without activating any hazard warning signals of its slow movement and without any signage or warning to other motorists of the slow movement of the vehicle in the number one (1) passing lane.”
Oh was unable to stop or maneuver out from behind the truck in time to avoid a collision, according to the complaint. After hitting the truck, the Acura sedan went underneath the truck.
The crash caused “significant intrusion by components of the (garbage truck) into the passenger compartment, wedging the Acura under the (truck) and dragging (Oh’s sedan) several hundred feet,” the complaint states.
The jury’s special verdict form last week indicated that Oh was found 65% responsible, Consolidated Disposal was 20% responsible and the truck driver was 15% responsible, in jurors’ determination of liability.
That was their justification for awarding $7.5 million to Gallegos’ parents, Kimberly and Alex, for their suffering up to that point, and another $7.5 million for future suffering, for a total of $15 million.
Angel Sanchez was awarded $500,000 for his future lost earning capacity and $400,000 for his medical expenses, as well as $1 million for his past suffering and $5 million for any future pain and suffering, for a total of $6.9 million.
Sanchez recently graduated college and has not let a TBI define him, Harvey-Lee said.
“He is working toward having a career in his life and having that life despite the challenges,” she added, saying he’s also felt the pride, love and support from the Gallegos family.
Sebastien Gallegos is honored every year in the Santa Clarita Valley during a memorial hockey game hosted by the West Ranch hockey program. The family also started the SoCal Bash organization, a not-for-profit travel ball organization that ran for several years, two days after Bash’s death.
‘Moving forward’
Neither Alex nor Kim mentioned any capability for “moving on,” but they are hopeful about “moving forward,” still sounding a bit unsure of where those steps might take them in the days following the verdict.
“It’s still tough. It’s still hard, but the biggest thing I’m glad that, you know, the verdict is in, they found Republic Consolidated at fault and liable for what happened to our son Sebastian,” Alex Gallegos said Monday. “Companies like this need to be held liable. They need to have better safety measures. That truck that day that was on our public streets, left that yard twice that day, and it shouldn’t have ever left the yards.”
Nearly 30 years after the crash that killed Mansfield, federal regulators adopted the first National Highway Traffic Safety Administration standards for the guards, and four years ago, the agency updated the guard standard to withstand a rear crash from 30 mph to 35 mph.
But Kim Gallegos said that, while she was going through this trial process, she had countless conversations with people, and most aren’t aware of the rules or how often they function incorrectly.
“We don’t really know what’s next, but we’re willing to fight the fight, walk the walk, talk the talk, and make sure that whatever we can do,” Kim Gallegos said, “or our story, or our son can do, to raise this mandate so that it’s followed on a federal level, we’re there.”
