Belli Asks $7.5 Million; Other Cases May Follow : Family Sues in Las Vegas Bus Tour Death

The family of a Westminster man who died when he attempted to prevent a careening Las Vegas-bound tour bus from plunging down an embankment has filed a $7.5-million lawsuit, the first in what attorneys said could be a series of lawsuits stemming from the March 29 crash.

Pedro Benitez, a 51-year-old aircraft inspector, was one of 39 TWA employees and family members bound for a Las Vegas gambling weekend on the chartered bus, which was struck by a runaway flatbed truck late at night on a steep section of Interstate 15 near Barstow.

Driver Thrown From Seat

When the bus driver was thrown from his seat by the impact of the collision, Benitez, who was sitting in the front row, and tour organizer Frank Boris of Carson grabbed the steering wheel and attempted to gain control of the bus, according to the lawsuit.

Both men were killed when the bus struck an embankment. An additional 34 passengers were injured. But attorneys for the Benitez family said the actions of the two men probably prevented the bus from plunging into a 40- to 60-foot ravine at the side of the road and averted other fatalities.

“Pedro Benitez heroically saved the lives of his co-workers and friends on board by (seizing) the steering wheel of the bus . . . (preventing) the bus from tumbling down a steep canyon,” said the suit, filed Tuesday in Orange County Superior Court by attorney Melvin M. Belli.

The lawsuit, seeking $2.5 million in general damages and $5 million in punitive damages, claims the accident could have been prevented if the bus driver had worn a seat belt. It also claims negligence on the part of the tour bus company, American First Tours of Inglewood, the operators of the truck that struck the bus and Union Oil Co. of California, which was shipping products on the truck.

Rodney Shepherd, directing attorney for Belli’s offices, said safety issues involving tour bus drivers will be a key issue in the case.

“We are attempting to take a very, very close look at the pleasure bus and tour bus companies who are employing people who may not be fully qualified to handle the safety of their passengers,” Shepherd said.

“Within the past year, we’ve had incidents involving bus accidents that have definitely been a result of poorly trained drivers, overworked drivers in some cases, drivers that were not fit to be driving. I don’t know if that’s the situation here, but it’s certainly something we’ll be looking at.”

Shepherd said attorneys will also be inquiring into the condition of the truck that struck the bus --which the suit alleges may have been overloaded--and the driver of the truck, Terry Gene Marks of Utah, who was named in the lawsuit but who has not been criminally charged. Though the accident investigation is not completed, initial reports indicated that the truck’s brakes failed on the long downgrade.

30 Years Experience

A spokesmen for American First Tours, who asked not to be identified, said the firm’s insurance company would be handling the matter. But he said the driver, Cecil Ray, had 30 years of driving experience and was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.

The suit was filed on behalf of Benitez’s widow, Brunilda Benitez, who was aboard the bus, and other surviving family members.

Shepherd said that Belli has been in contact with the Boris family and others and will probably be filing additional suits within the next several days.