Lawsuit, $3-Million Claim Filed Against Santa Ana in Traffic Death at Intersection

A lawyer has filed a claim and lawsuit against the City of Santa Ana, alleging that the intersection of Main and Walnut streets--at which two people have been killed this year--is dangerous and has been negligently maintained.

John A. Rosenbaum, an attorney for the family of Maria Altamirano who died after being struck by a car at the intersection, said Friday that he filed a claim seeking $3 million in damages from the city 10 days after the Feb. 17 accident.

If the City Council rejects the claim, Rosenbaum said, a lawsuit which he filed in Orange County Superior Court will be served on Santa Ana.

Expects City to Reject Claim

Rosenbaum added that he expects the city to reject the claim because of the large amount of money involved.

A second victim, Yamilet Reyes, 8, died after being hit by a car at the intersection Monday while on her way to classes at Grant Elementary School.

“It’s a deathtrap,” Rosenbaum said.

Mike Bush, a city spokesman, said there were no pedestrian deaths caused by autos at the intersection from 1980 to 1985.

Officials Dispute Contention

Police and city officials, while expressing sorrow for the families of the accident victims, maintained that the intersection was not especially dangerous.

“It isn’t any more dangerous than any other intersection in Santa Ana at all,” said Police Traffic Investigator Tony Duran. “There’s not a lot of accidents there.”

David Grosse, executive director of the city’s Public Services Agency, agreed, saying the intersection had “no previous history of pedestrian accidents” before this year.

Grosse said the city made changes in the intersection’s traffic patterns in 1984, including painting the crosswalk of Main Street, eliminating parking on the streets near the intersection and prohibiting left turns onto Main Street from Walnut.

Intersection Called Hazardous

Although the city feels the Main-Walnut intersection is not any more dangerous than other intersections in the city, some people working near it feel differently.

“I consider it real dangerous,” said E. Thayle Denney, manager of a tire service center on the corner of the intersection. “It’s just a matter of time before someone else gets killed.”

Denney and David de los Santos, the tire center’s assistant managers, said they were concerned because students use the intersection to walk to and from nearby Grant Elementary School and Santa Ana High School.

The streets are especially dangerous “during lunch when there’s a lot of guys and girls coming by,” De los Santos said.

“There’s really a need for a traffic light there,” De los Santos added.

Grosse said a traffic light would not make the corner any safer for pedestrians, noting that “most accidents occur at traffic signals.”

He advised parents to tell their children the importance of looking both ways before crossing any street.