SEPTEMBER 20, 2016
— Sheriff’s deputies failed to arrest drunk driver, allegedly leading to the death of four young individuals —
San Francisco, CA-Attorney Steven Kronenberg of The Veen Firm, a San Francisco-based law firm specializing in catastrophic personal injury matters, filed a wrongful death lawsuit today against the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department on behalf of Patricia DeAngelis, the mother of sixteen-year-old Rose Bio, who died along with three other people in a fatal car accident after a high-speed police chase.
Background
On September 20, 2015, Bio, along with intoxicated driver Stephen MacFadden, and passengers Megan Littlebear Wall and Alejandro Rodriguez, had stopped at a local gas station. The lawsuit alleges that Sheriff’s Department deputies, who were in the parking lot of the gas station, noticed MacFadden’s vehicle had been idle for an extended period of time and inquired into his whereabouts. After allegedly determining that he was vomiting in the restroom due to his alcohol consumption, the officers let the intoxicated minor MacFadden drive away. MacFadden lost control of the vehicle, which rolled over, killing himself, Wall and Rodriguez. Bio was taken to a nearby hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries.
Nearly a year later, the Sheriff’s Department still has not released its Traffic Collision Report about how these events occurred. “The families who lost their children in this incident have a right to learn the truth about what happened,” Kronenberg said.
The father of Wall is represented by Bradley J. Swingle and the mother of Rodriguez by Miles B. Cooper.