Lost Wreck Led to $13.2-Million Award : Courts: Judgment is made against insurance firm. It is blamed for not preserving a truck that crashed into Mission Viejo woman’s car and left her brain-damaged.

The disappearance of a $100 wreck has led to a $13.2-million legal judgment against an insurance company that failed to preserve the crumpled pickup truck that crashed into the car of a young preschool teacher.

The fate of the 1983 Mazda pickup became a critical issue in the five-week Orange County Superior Court trial pitting Financial Indemnity Co. against Nichole Garcia, 26, of Mission Viejo, who was severely brain-damaged in the high-speed collision on Santiago Canyon Road. The young woman’s lawyers argued that the loss of the damaged truck ruined her chances to pursue potential lawsuits against tire manufacturers.

On Monday, Superior Court Judge Robert Green awarded the $13.2-million judgment against Financial Indemnity, based on the jury verdict against the Burbank insurance company.

Four years ago when the accident happened, Garcia was engaged to be married and on her way to a new job as a preschool instructor in Garden Grove. The pickup driver, Ernesto Elisalde, also was on his way to work when the left front tire of his Mazda pickup blew and his vehicle veered across the lanes, crashing into Garcia’s 1981 Toyota Celica.

In the days that followed, California Highway Patrol investigators would complain about the dearth of witnesses to the accident, even though the rush-hour crash caused a 10-mile traffic backup. In the years that followed, Garcia’s lawyers sought to fix blame, unsuccessfully suing Elisalde’s employer, Ram Mar Paint Inc., arguing that Elisalde was driving for his employers.

The complaint against Financial Indemnity stemmed from that earlier lawsuit. Since Financial represented Ram Mar, Garcia’s attorneys argued that the insurance company should have preserved the evidence from the accident.

Instead, it vanished after Elisalde sold the wreck to a friend and co-employee for $100.

According to Garcia’s attorney, Christopher E. Angelo, the wreck “mysteriously” disappeared more than a month after Financial agreed to safeguard the pickup. According to Financial’s attorney, Guillermo Schnaider, the pickup sat in a Ram Mar parking lot for more than five months before it was moved and sold to a junkyard. The junkyard owners claimed they never received the truck.

“It would be inaccurate to say that Financial Indemnity lost the vehicle,” said Schnaider. “Their contention was that Financial Indemnity failed to make necessary efforts to find it. And my position is that there never was a duty to find it.”

Since the verdict and judgment earlier this week, Angelo issued statements that the $13.2-million award for Garcia has a wider impact than the future of the young woman.

“This verdict,” he said, “should send a strong message to the liability insurance industry not to lose or destroy evidence helpful to injured victims.”

For their part, Financial Indemnity intends to challenge the award and launch an appeal, Schnaider said.

Garcia’s mother, Sylvia, could not be reached for comment.