Criminal, civil cases in fatal crash on Highway 12 moving forward

STOCKTON — While the criminal case against a Lodi man alleged to have caused the deaths of his wife, daughter and a friend’s child in a 2017 car crash moves slowly forward, a wrongful death lawsuit against the California Department of Transportation that stems from the same 2017 tragedy is nearing its first court date.

Ludgero Medeiros made a brief and uneventful appearance Monday morning and faces further arraignment in the criminal case March 4. A judge already has found there to be sufficient evidence for Medeiros to be tried in the late 2017 crash on Highway 12 that claimed the lives of his 34-year-old wife, Stacey Medeiros; their 3-year-old daughter, Evangeline; and 6-year-old Riley Tanner of Woodbridge, who was the son of a friend.

The 36-year-old defendant is charged with three counts of second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter, three counts of child endangerment with great bodily injury and one count of reckless driving causing injury.

Meanwhile, a guardian has filed a civil lawsuit on behalf of Medeiros’ 10-year-old-son, who survived the crash. Jenna Tanner, Riley Tanner’s mother, is a partner in the lawsuit against the California Department of Transportation and Gerald John Vanderlans, the driver of the other vehicle in the collision. The first court hearing in the civil suit is next Monday.

Medeiros was driving a Mercury SUV in excess of 100 mph about 9 p.m. on Dec. 16, 2017, when he tried to pass a Mercedes along a narrow right shoulder on eastbound Highway 12 about seven miles west of Interstate 5, according to a report from the California Highway Patrol.

As the Mercury was passing the Mercedes, the Mercury’s right tires left the pavement, according to the CHP. The Mercury driver corrected back to the left to return to the roadway, striking the Mercedes and forcing it into a temporary concrete wall. The Mercury also struck the wall.

Both vehicles continued out of control. The Mercury overturned end over end several times before coming to rest on its roof, submerged in an agricultural irrigation ditch.

According to the civil lawsuit, Caltrans is being sued because Medeiros’ vehicle “came upon a defective condition in the roadway/shoulder which caused the subject vehicle to lose control, overturn, and roll down the freeway embankment into an adjacent ditch.”

Asked to comment Monday, a Caltrans spokesman said the agency does not discuss pending litigation.

As for the other vehicle in the crash, the civil lawsuit alleges that Medeiros’ vehicle was “forced onto the shoulder of the roadway by a vehicle being operated by Gerald John Vanderlans.” The suit adds that Vanderlans was driving with a suspended license and without insurance.

According to the lawsuit, the surviving child who has filed suit suffered “great physical, mental and emotional pain and suffering,” with some of the physical injuries causing permanent damage.

The suit seeks damages in excess of $25,000.