A judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the parents of an 18-year-old Glendora man who was fatally injured when he fell from the side of a Jeep in the Angeles National Forest, allegedly because another couple furnished alcohol to their son and other underage guests at a graduation party at the defendants’ home before the 2016 accident.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Marc Gross took the action Friday after neither the plaintiffs, David Alonso and Veronica Espinoza-Alonso, nor their lawyers showed up for the hearing or explained beforehand why they would not be there.
Gross’ action was “without prejudice,,” meaning the lawsuit could be reinstated if the judge is persuaded to do so.
The plaintiffs brought the lawsuit in August 2017 against Michael and Brenda Fink of Rancho Cucamonga. Lawyers for the Finks maintained the decedent, Jacob Mendez-Alonso, was himself negligent and that he voluntarily assumed the risk when making some of his decisions.
The accident took place about 12:35 a.m. May 21, 2016, three days before Mendez-Alonso was scheduled to graduate from Whitcomb Continuation High School in Glendora, according to the suit, which sought unspecified damages.
Mendez-Alonso was drunk when he fell while standing on the Jeep’s running board as the driver took the vehicle up Glendora Mountain Road near Big Dalton Canyon Road, the suit stated. He later died at Foothill Presbyterian Hospital in Glendora.
According to the complaint, high school students at the Fink home drank alcohol, including beer and vodka at the party and consumed a variety of drugs, among them marijuana, prescription drugs and nitrous oxide.
The Finks also failed to ensure the teens were provided safe transportation home after police broke up the party, the suit stated.
The driver took nine students, some as young as 14 years old, with him in his Jeep Wrangler, which was meant to hold up to five people, the suit stated. The driver picked up two more passengers along the way as the vehicle headed up the mountain road with Mendez-Alonso on the running board, according to the plaintiffs.
The driver was traveling at about 45 mph when he slowed down, causing Mendez-Alonso to fall off the side of the Jeep, according to the lawsuit.
“As a result, (Mendez-Alonso) was brutally run over by the (Jeep), suffering fatal injuries,” the suit alleged.