One of three people injured when a car crashed into a Westwood restaurant near UCLA in 2019 has reached a settlement with the driver and another individual.
Matthew Ryan’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit stated that Elizabeth Pasternak was behind the wheel of the sedan that drove through the entrance of Pinches Tacos on Glendon Avenue about noon on June 4, 2019. Ryan’s attorneys filed court papers on Tuesday with Judge Daniel M. Crowley stating that the case was resolved, but no terms were divulged.
Ryan brought the negligence suit against Pasternak, now 79, in June 2020, later adding Alfred Pasternak as a defendant. His relationship with Elizabeth Pasternak is not explained in the court papers.
The Pasternaks did not deny liability, but before the settlement disputed the amount of damages Ryan sought, according to the plaintiff’s court papers.
According to the police report also attached to the complaint, Ryan, now 33, did not see the 2016 Lexus E350 before he was struck and suffered injuries to his left knee and lower body.
Ryan, a senior design engineer at Silvus Technologies, was having lunch at Pinches, his court papers stated.
Elizabeth Pasternak said she was driving at about 15 mph north on Glendon, then turned right to park in an angled space on the street in front of the restaurant, according to the police report. However, she allegedly was unable to apply the brake and drove through the front door of Pinches, striking a pillar.