Local News in Brief : City Settles in Car Crash
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The family of a man killed in a car crash involving singer Luther Vandross will be paid $50,000 by the City of Los Angeles as part of a settlement.
The City Council voted 13 to 0, without debate, to pay the money to the family of Lawrence Salvemini, who was killed in the Jan. 27, 1986, head-on accident on Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Studio City.
Under the settlement, Vandross will pay about $600,000 to the family in addition to $30,000 he has already paid.
Salvemini and his brother, Jimmy, who was seriously injured, were passengers in a car driven by the rhythm and blues singer. Vandross, who said the accident was caused by unsafe road conditions, pleaded no contest to a charge of reckless driving last December after police said he was driving 50 m.p.h. in a 35 m.p.h. zone.
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