City Attorney Backs $110,000 L.A. Settlement in Deaths of 2 Skaters

The Los Angeles city attorney’s office has recommended that the city pay $110,000 to the families of two roller-skaters killed by a drunk driver on the Sepulveda Basin bike path.

Darlene Castillo, 28, and Linda Nelson, 26, were struck by a car about 1 p.m. July 20, 1980, while skating on the path on the west side of Woodley Avenue between Burbank and Victory boulevards in Van Nuys. Nelson died at the scene and Castillo died in the hospital six weeks later.

The driver of the car, Henry Lyle Rohwer, 61, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19%, almost double the 0.10% legal limit for driving, and was convicted of vehicular manslaughter, said Philip J. Sugar, assistant city attorney.

The skaters’ husbands sued the city, claiming that the bike path and road were poorly designed.

Woodley Avenue, as it travels south from Victory Boulevard to Burbank Boulevard, starts out straight, curves left and then right. In the area between Victory and the first curve, the bike path is separated from the road by 4 to 5 feet of dirt.

At the apex of the first curve, there is a dirt service road that goes south. “It thus could appear as if the roadway does not curve, but, in fact, goes straight,” Sugar said, adding that it was at the apex of the curve where the accident occurred.

The driver “apparently did not realize the road curved or, due to alcohol, was too intoxicated to realize what he was doing, and he continued driving his car up over the 8-inch curb and onto the bike path,” Sugar said. “He drove along the bike path approximately 50 feet and struck the two roller-skaters.”

The plaintiffs contended that some type of barrier should have been installed near the curve. “If they just had a barrier there, this accident wouldn’t have occurred,” their attorney, J. Patrick Maginnis, said in an interview Monday.

They also contended that the location of the service road and the lack of the curb due to the ramped entrance to the road can be confusing to a motorist who may think Woodley goes straight instead of curving east. They said a sign warning of the curve would have prevented the accident.

“The city has made some minor modifications at the location by installing a greater number of larger guideposts along the entire length of the curve, which should give better definition to the curvature of the roadway,” Sugar said.

Sugar also pointed out that the bike path is separated from the road “not only by the curb, but also by an 11-foot parking lane, which is felt to be an adequate recovery area for an errant driver, thus making a fixed barrier unnecessary.”

In recommending the settlement, Sugar said in a report to the City Council’s Finance and Revenue Committee: “There appears to be an unreasonable financial risk to the city in bringing this matter to trial.”

Could Be Explosive Case

Sugar said the judge handling the settlement conference believes that “this is the type of case that, if given to a jury, can be quite explosive in terms of the sympathy and tragedy of the events. He feels that even though the evidence against the city is weak, a jury, realizing that Mr. Rohwer has no money, might be reluctant to turn the plaintiffs away empty-handed.”

Sugar pointed out that Castillo’s son, Trini, was skating 50 feet behind the women and saw the accident.

“In view of the tragic nature of the two deaths and the fact that Trini Castillo saw it all happen, there is a potential that the plaintiffs could obtain a verdict, and any verdict in this case would greatly exceed the amount of the settlement,” Sugar said.