A woman has responded to the city of Pico Rivera’s motion to be dismissed as a defendant in her lawsuit alleging street debris and a concrete guardrail caused her 52-year-old father’s fatal motorcycle crash death, stating in new court papers that city officials had the authority to remove both before the accident.
Emily Cecilia McCue, the 30-year-old daughter of the late Craig McCue, brought the wrongful death suit in Los Angeles Superior Court. She sued the city and other defendants, including Los Angeles County, the state and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Craig McCue was driving a motorcycle on Rooks Road at about 6 p.m. on Nov. 23, 2021, when he lost control after hitting debris on the road and then “crashed into a dangerously placed and improperly positioned K-rail,” causing his death, according to the suit brought in August 2022.
The street was in a dangerous condition due to the debris and because improperly placed K-rails pose a known risk for motorcyclists and other motorists, according to the suit, which also alleges there were no posted warnings to motorcyclists of the allegedly hazardous conditions.
Attorneys for the city have filed a motion to dismiss some or all of the plaintiff’s claims, maintaining that the city does not own Rooks Road and is therefore not responsible for its upkeep. The defense lawyers also maintain that the plaintiff cannot prove that debris was on the road, that the city placed it there or that the municipality knew about its presence.
But in court papers filed Wednesday with Judge Lee Arian in advance of a Nov. 21 hearing, the plaintiff’s attorney takes those claims to task by citing deposition testimony from various city workers knowledgeable about control over Rooks Road.
“As a baseline matter, (the city) overlooks the fact — which it admitted during deposition — that it had exercised control over the management, cleanliness, operation, maintenance and repair of Rooks Road through a series of leases with the United States government dating back to 1984,” the plaintiff’s lawyer states.
The leases give the city “wide-ranging control” over Rooks Road and clearly state the city is responsible for keeping the surface in a “clean, safe condition,” according to Emily McCue’s attorney’s pleadings.
In addition, the city was aware of debris on Rooks Road as far back as 2017 and that it was composed mainly of illegal dumping, according to Emily McCue’s lawyers court papers, which further state that the government leases gave the city the authority to remove the K-rail.
Craig McCue’s death certificate, which is attached to the suit, states that he worked as a telecom engineer for a major television studio.