The family of a man killed when a Metro bus struck the boom lift he was operating and knocked him out of the basket near downtown in February is suing the transit agency and the driver.
The wrongful death suit was filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of Sophia Rose Hernandez Castillo, Francisco Castillo and Josephine Castillo, who are all related to Thomas Gonzales Castillo. Francisco and Josephine Castillo were his children and Sophia Castillo is granddaughter. Josephine Castillo is the only adult plaintiff.
The suit names as defendants Metro, bus driver Ursula Lozano, the city of Los Angeles and the county.
The suit alleges the MTA and Metro “negligently, carelessly and recklessly owned, operated, controlled, repaired, maintained, lent and leased” the bus in a way that caused Castillo’s death.
A Metro representative did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.
Castillo, 56, was moving the 120-foot lift off a big-rig near Venice Boulevard and Wright Street on about 3:25 a.m. Feb. 11, according to Los Angeles police. The lift’s engine was on Wright Street and the basket hung above a lane on westbound Venice Boulevard when it was struck by the bus, police said.
Neither the driver nor a passenger on the bus saw the lift until it was too late and speed did not play a role in the accident, police said.
Castillo, who was not strapped into the basket, suffered head injuries when he fell; he was declared dead later the same morning, police said.
— City News Service