Tragic Accident at Camp Pendleton Sparks Lawsuit Over Hazardous Conditions
The untimely passing of an 8-year-old boy, Lucas Antczak, has led to legal action against companies responsible for military housing at Camp Pendleton. The boy was struck by a vehicle while cycling, and his family claims that overgrown hedges at a nearby intersection were a critical factor in the tragic incident.
Lucas was hit on October 26 in a neighborhood located off Vandegrift Boulevard, close to the San Luis Rey Gate. He succumbed to his injuries on November 1 at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego.
The lawsuit, filed by Lucas’s parents, William and Brooke Antczak, in San Diego federal court, targets Liberty Military Housing along with two associated entities. The suit contends that these companies “negligently designed, approved, constructed, controlled, supervised and/or maintained the landscaping” at the site of the crash.
Specifically, it points to the intersection of Harris Street and East Barnett Circle, where the overgrown hedges “blocked the vision of traffic in both directions … (and) created or increased the foreseeable risk of people, like Lucas Antczak, being seriously injured or killed.” The lawsuit argues that this hazardous condition was a “substantial factor” in the accident, preventing both Lucas and the driver from seeing each other.
Additionally, the driver involved in the accident is accused of motor vehicle negligence.
In response to the incident, a spokesperson for Liberty Military Housing expressed devastation, stating, “Our team members have joined neighbors in the community in coming together in support of the family during this sad time. All the information currently available to Liberty indicates that the hedge did not play a role in this accident.”
As of now, neither the company nor the driver has responded to the lawsuit in court, and the driver could not be reached for comment.
According to the Defense Department, William Antczak serves as a Marine Corps officer with the rank of captain. The family resided approximately a block away from the accident site.
Craig McClellan, the family’s attorney, mentioned prior complaints regarding the hedges, noting they blocked the view for drivers but not access to or visibility of homes in the area.
The lawsuit accuses Liberty Military Housing and its related companies of negligence for failing to maintain the property, claiming they “had received sufficient and ample notice of the dangerous condition that existed” and that an accident like Lucas’s was foreseeable.
The legal document also charges the driver with driving at excessive speeds and failing to take evasive actions, such as braking, to prevent the collision with Lucas Antczak.
The Antczak family seeks unspecified economic and non-economic damages from the defendants involved.
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