The mother and children of one of two Los Angeles police officers killed in collisions with trucks on the same steep Beverly Hills are suing both cities, the owner of the truck and the driver.
Detective Ernest Allen, who was assigned to the Southwest Station, was killed about 2 p.m. May 9 when his car collided with a concrete mixer. The accident occurred on the same stretch of Loma Vista Drive where LAPD Officer Nicholas Lee was killed March 7.
Allen’s mother, Sarah Allen, and children, Ernest Allen Jr. and Latrice Allen-Richard, filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. Aside from both cities, the complaint names as defendants Sun Valley-based Over & Over Ready Mix Inc. and the truck driver, Brandon Cascio.
Along with wrongful death, the suit alleges negligence, negligent hiring and that a dangerous condition existed on public property. The suit seeks unspecified compensatory damages against the two cities and punitive damages against Cascio and his employer.
A Beverly Hills police representative could not be immediately reached for comment.
According to the lawsuit, Loma Vista Drive was plagued by “dangerous design, construction as well as inadequate signage that constituted a “concealed trap” for those driving on the road.
The suit alleges the cities of Beverly Hills and Los Angeles failed to educate and train truck drivers on how to safely drive on Loma Vista Drive and to designate limited times for heavy construction vehicles to use the roadway.
The cities also should have had traffic officers monitor the street, enforce the speed limit and restrict general traffic from using it while large trucks were present, the suit states. There were no signs warning drivers of big trucks that they could lose control on the steep street if they drove too fast, the suit states.
Cascio was driving at an “unsafe speed” when his truck collided with Allen’s car, the suit states. The complaint also alleges the Over & Over Ready Mix truck was not properly maintained and had defects “which rendered it dangerous and unsafe for operation.”
Allen was a 27-year LAPD veteran nicknamed “Big E.”
After a study session in June, the Beverly Hills City Council directed staff to begin opening up the area to hauling vehicles that weigh more than 26,000 pounds or have three or more axles, Therese said.
