OXNARD : Surfer’s Mother Files Suit Over His Death

A mother who says her son was electrocuted in May when he touched a saltwater pump station on Pacific Coast Highway in Ventura County has filed a $2-million lawsuit against the restaurant that owned the pump.

Anthony De Los Santos of Oxnard, a 28-year-old construction worker, was pronounced dead of electrocution May 29 after touching a steel structure housing a pump that Neptune’s Net Seafood used to keep its fresh seafood alive, the suit says.

De Los Santos, a surfer, apparently touched the housing after stepping out of the water near the restaurant at 42505 Pacific Coast Highway, according to the suit.

Nancy Ortega filed the suit Tuesday in Ventura County Superior Court against the restaurant and its owners, Paul and Dolly Seay, alleging that they were negligent and caused her son’s death.

The suit also names Warner Crouch, a lighting contractor, maintaining that he was partly responsible for faulty wiring that caused the pump housing to be charged with 240 volts of electricity.

The suit contends that the defendants failed to correct the problem even after restaurant patrons complained of getting shocks from the housing.

Ortega’s suit maintains that she was dependent on her son before his death and asks for $2 million in damages, plus funeral costs and legal costs for the suit.

De Los Santos’ widow, Sylvia, sued the Seays, the restaurant and Crouch on similar claims in August.

Dolly Seay and her attorney, Joseph H. Lax of Oxnard, declined to comment on the lawsuit. Others named as defendants could not be reached for comment Wednesday.