VICTIM’S FAMILY FILES SUIT
Arnold Rios experienced horrific moments during the Vietnam War, but perhaps the worst trauma of his life occurred Thursday after he drove with his wife down the mountain from their Tehachapi home to see one of their granddaughters dance in the Bakersfield Christmas Parade.
The 77-year-old was standing in a crowd near the corner of H and 21st streets when he heard the roar of a Ford F-150. He spun around in time to see the truck accelerating in reverse out of an alleyway — and barreling straight for them.
With a soldier’s instincts, the twotime Purple Heart recipient shoved his wife, Candace, out of harm’s way, only to be run over himself at the hands of a 72-year-old man who police suspect had been drinking heavily, and who witnesses reported grew increasingly frustrated at being blocked by the parade route.
“He’s a hero,” one of Rios’ daughters, Marissa Sullivan, said of her father at a news conference Tuesday morning downtown. “He’s incredibly heroic in every way.”
As he slowly recovers in a local intensive care unit — both legs in casts, toes amputated, with a fractured skull after brain bleeding — Rios and his wife are suing retired real estate agent Alan Lewis Booth, who police say was behind the wheel of the truck that also sent a father and son, ages 21 and 42, to the hospital.
Partner Matt Clark at the law firm that filed the lawsuit on the Rioses’ behalf, Chain | Cohn | Clark, told reporters at Tuesday’s news conference that additional parties may be named as defendants, possibly including public entities and any eating or drinking establishments that served Booth alcohol prior to the crash.
Besides determining whether police contacted Booth before the crash and became aware that he was inebriated, Clark said, the firm expects to ask local government agencies involved in the parade whether any reasonable
measures were taken to barricade the parade route.
“My concern is, we just had an instance where law enforcement was unable to protect” members of the public from harm, he said, emphasizing he was not saying Tuesday that the city of Bakersfield was negligent.
As for whether someone served Booth too much to drink, Clark said, there would need to be proof he was over-served and that the establishment responsible knew it.
“It’s very difficult to prove,” Clark added. He noted the firm is still busy gathering witness statements.
Meanwhile, the focus is on harm caused by Booth’s alleged actions. The complaint filed Monday in Kern County Superior Court seeks financial compensation related to lost wages, hospital or medical expenses and general plus exemplary damages.
Sullivan and two of her sisters said they would like to see Booth punished, just as they hope to draw attention to the problem of drinking and driving in Kern, known as one of the worst countries in the United States as measured by the number of deaths caused annually by DUIs.
“These are human lives,” Rios’ daughter Anna Escobedo said. “If you’re going to drink, don’t drive.”
The crash has brought a particular hardship on the family because Arnold Rios was the primary caretaker for Candace, who their daughters said suffers from memory problems. With him in the hospital, Candace is staying with Sullivan.
All three of the sisters expressed great concern for their father, who they said is recovering slowly. He recalls some moments surrounding the crash, they said, but his recollection and his mental acuity seem to come and go.
“He’s not in a mental condition that he was before,” Sullivan said.
“We’re very devastated,” Sullivan said. “We’re thankful he’s alive.” She expressed frustration that the family has received no expressions of concern from the parade organizers or the city.
“I don’t think it’s their priority,” she added.
Sgt. Andrew Tipton, public information officer for the Bakersfield Police Department, said that although Booth has been arrested, he is still receiving medical care and therefore had not been booked into jail.
The crash suspect is in stable condition, Tipton said, but beyond that he could only say that Booth suffered injuries that were “not major.”
No information was available Tuesday on the condition of the other two crash victims.