LAKE CASITAS : Claims Over Fatal Accident Rejected

The Casitas Municipal Water District has rejected claims of negligence filed by the families of an Oxnard man who was killed and two others who were injured in an automobile accident at the Lake Casitas campground last summer.

Anthony Tinoco, 20, died in the Aug. 11 accident. Oxnard residents Victor Ramirez, 17, and Ignacio Ramirez, 19, who are not related, were injured.

The families of the three men each filed claims last month totaling more than $15 million.

The district board of directors rejected the claims last week.

The three men were among seven people riding in a pickup that plunged 45 feet down a ravine at the campgrounds.

Tinoco died of head injuries, California Highway Patrol officials said. According to the claims, Victor Ramirez suffered minor arm injuries, while Ignacio Ramirez was hospitalized with severe head injuries.

Officers arrested the driver of the truck, Tracey Rene Moore, 21, of Ojai on suspicion of felony drunken driving.

The claims said the water district is responsible because it improperly constructed the roadway.

The claims also allege that park rangers failed to control drinking on the campgrounds and allowed cars to enter and leave the grounds to buy alcoholic beverages.

The claims seek $5 million in general damages for the Tinoco family, $505,000 for the family of Victor Ramirez and $10.13 million for the family of Ignacio Ramirez.

Curtis Simpson, an attorney for the firm that represents the families, said the families will probably file a lawsuit.