Local News in Brief : L.A. Panel Votes to Pay $674,533 in Fatal Crash

A Los Angeles City Council committee Tuesday voted to pay $674,533 to the family of a prominent San Fernando Valley attorney who died in a collision with a driver who ran a stop sign.

Carmine Thomas Fizzolio’s family contended that the stop sign was obscured by a tree planted by the city. Fizzolio, 60, a former member of the city’s Civil Service Commission, died in the June 8, 1980, accident at Bledsoe Street and Herrick Avenue in Sylmar.

The Finance and Revenue Committee vote was in response to a city attorney’s recommendation that the city not appeal a March 3 Superior Court jury verdict against the city.

Assistant City Atty. Thomas C. Hokinson contended during the trial that Ignacio Alvarado, the driver who went through the stop sign, had been drinking. The driver pleaded no contest to charges of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced to 90 days in County Jail and three years’ probation. However, he had no insurance, Hokinson said.

The money will be paid to Fizzolio’s wife, Nancy, who lives in Sylmar, and four children. The committee recommendations still must be approved by the full council.

An attorney for the family said the family previously received $110,000 from an insurance policy. Under a clause in the policy, they will repay the insurance company $67,000 from the city payment.