Five people, including a 7-year-old boy, have been killed in a New Year’s Eve crash in Ontario, according to a news report.
The California Highway Patrol said that the fatal accident occurred when a Toyota Yaris traveled at a high speed off I-10 onto the Vineyard Street off-ramp and smashed into the side of a Toyota sedan that was traveling north on Vineyard Street. Four people in the Toyota sedan — Anthony Andrew Flores, 30, of Hemet; Monica Marie Flores, 37, of Arcadia; Matthew Joseph Pusateri, 29, of Mission Viejo; and Jeffrey Albert Willey, 29, of Huntington Beach — were pronounced dead at the scene.
Four people in the Toyota Yaris were taken to local hospitals for treatment of their injuries. The 7-year-old boy — Joel Michael Pineda of Van Nuys — died shortly after arriving at San Antonio Regional Hospital. Two other juveniles and one adult suffered minor to moderate injuries in the crash.
According to the San Bernardino County Coroner’s Office, there was a problem with the Toyota Yaris that caused the vehicle to accelerate uncontrollably. When the driver couldn’t stop or slow the vehicle, he drove onto the Vineyard Street off-ramp.
If you or a loved one is involved in an accident that causes death or serious injury, call the Orange County personal injury attorneys at Callahan & Blaine, California’s Premier Litigation Firm. We are one of the leading catastrophic Orange County personal injury law firms. In fact, in the last five years alone our lawyers have obtained over $1.5 billion in verdicts and settlements, including a record breaking $50 Million settlement against the City of Dana Point, which has been certified as the largest personal injury settlement in the history of the United States.
Callahan & Blaine also has numerous other record-breaking verdicts and settlement in Orange County, including the largest jury verdict in the history of Orange County ($934 Million), the largest class action settlement ($38 Million), the largest insurance bad faith judgment ($58 Million) and the largest employment law settlement ($38 Million). Callahan & Blaine also has recent personal injury settlements of $28 Million for a driver who was hit by a runaway truck wheel on the freeway, $17 Million for a bicycle accident on Pacific Coast Highway, $7.25 Million for a bus accident, $7 Million for a bicyclist who was struck by a delivery truck, and $6 Million for a bicyclist struck by an airport shuttle bus.
If you or someone you know has suffered a catastrophic injury or died as the result of an accident, please contact our Orange County law firm for expert legal counsel.