Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS : COUNTY : Family of Cougar Victim Files $21-Million Claim

The family of 6-year-old Justin Mellon, the second child to be mauled this year by a mountain lion at Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park east of San Juan Capistrano, filed a $21-million claim against the County of Orange, the owner of the park.

The boy’s parents and six other relatives alleged that they all had suffered “severe personal injuries” and “trauma we will have to live with for the rest of our lives.”

In the claim, the family alleged that when they bought their ticket to enter the park Oct. 19, the notices of mountain lions in the region were more descriptions of the animals than warnings of the danger they posed.

The family alleges that when they asked a park ranger about what precautions to take, they were told to “stay on the trails and you’ll be fine.” The attack occurred later that day on a nature trail inside the park.

The family of 5-year-old Laura Small, the first mountain lion victim at the park, also has filed a claim against the county for $28 million. The attack left the girl blinded in one eye and partially paralyzed.

Mellon’s injuries required about 100 stitches, and he was released a few days afterward. His family said he has returned to kindergarten but remains both physically and emotionally scarred by the attack.