D.A. Warns Restaurant in Probe of Hit-Run Death

The Ventura County district attorney’s office has warned a restaurant chain that it may prosecute the chain’s security manager for interfering with the investigation of an employee charged with manslaughter after she allegedly got drunk at work and drove into a highway laborer.

But an attorney for the firm, Restaurant Enterprises Group of Irvine, said security manager Chuck Collins has cooperated fully with the investigation of Lyzah Trost, a cook at Reuben’s Restaurant on Moorpark Road in Thousand Oaks.

Trost, 29, of Malibu has been charged with one count of felony vehicular manslaughter and one count of felony hit-and-run driving in connection with the April 5 death of David Ewing, a 27-year-old highway worker.

The complaint against Trost alleges that she consumed “a number of drinks” at the restaurant and drove away soon after midnight “despite the protestations” of fellow workers that she was too drunk to drive.

Closing Off Lanes

Ewing, one of two workers closing off lanes for construction crews on the eastbound Ventura Freeway, was run over soon after midnight near Moorpark Road by a driver who fled the scene. Trost was arrested the next day after Reuben’s employees told authorities that she had admitted over the telephone to them that she had killed the highway worker. She has since been freed on $10,000 bail.

Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury, who was out of town Monday and could not be reached, said in a June 29 letter to Restaurant Enterprises executives that Collins “in an apparent concern over corporate liability has lied to investigators, manipulated employees and blatantly obstructed the investigation” of Trost. He said Collins could be charged with obstructing justice, which carries a maximum term of three years in state prison.

Bradbury said his office had to subpoena the telephone numbers and addresses of Reuben’s employees to interview them because Collins was uncooperative.

Instructions to Employees

He said Collins lied to investigators by telling them that he had provided the information to officers from the California Highway Patrol. Bradbury also stated that Collins told employees “not to talk with anyone” regarding the incident and that at least one employee felt that his job would be in jeopardy if he did not follow Collins’ instructions.

Robert E. Weiner, an attorney for Restaurant Enterprises, said Collins and other company representatives have cooperated fully with Bradbury’s staff. He said Collins told employees not to discuss the case among themselves or with the press, but to cooperate with authorities.

Weiner said the district attorney’s investigators have “an ax to grind” with Collins. He would not elaborate.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Joe Buckalew said prosecutors will decide whether to charge Collins by the end of the month.