Orcutt Union School District is facing a lawsuit from an Alice Shaw Elementary School student, who was struck by a vehicle driven by a 90-year-old woman on campus in December 2015.
The incident took place on Dec. 8, 2015, when Margaret Peden was trying to park in a handicapped spot and hit the gas instead of the brake. Peden lost control of the car, went over the curb, struck the handicapped sign, ran over a mailbox, and hit six then-second-grade students in the lunch line, including then-7-year-old Fadi Alkhouri.
Louis Cohen, Alkhouri’s attorney, told the Sun that Alkhouri was run over by Peden’s car.
“He was pinned under the car and folded in half like a sandwich,” Cohen said, “and lost consciousness and was engaged in agonal breathing, which is the breathing you do when you’re going to die.”
Highway patrol and other bystanders were able to lift the car off Alkhouri using airbags, and he was transported by air ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, Cohen said.
Court documents state Alkhouri sustained “significant physical and emotional injuries.”
California Highway Patrol officer David Medina told the Sun in a previous interview that the six students hit by Peden’s car sustained only minor injuries. Peden wasn’t arrested or charged with a crime.
Alkhouri, now age 8, is suing both Peden and the school district through his father, Atih Alkhouri. The lawsuit claims Peden negligently operated her car, and the district is liable for premises liability and negligent failure to correct a known dangerous and hazardous condition.
“Students were directed to and permitted to line up for lunch immediately adjacent to the school parking lot and a handicapped parking stall,” court documents state. “There were no pedestrian barriers of any kind between the parking lot and students standing in line for lunch.”
Cohen said the district should have either installed protective pedestrian barriers or not allowed the students to line up immediately adjacent to the handicapped parking spot, adding that the students were lined up in that location by district employees.
The lawsuit also claims the district was negligent in regulating traffic on school grounds, creating dangerous conditions that posed “an unreasonable risk of the type of collision described.”
Cohen said the complaint had not been served to the school district as of press time. The Sun reached out to district Superintendent Debbie Blow, who said she couldn’t give comment because investigation of the case was ongoing.
Alkhouri is seeking compensation for damages exceeding $25,000, Cohen said. According to court documents, the damages include hospital and medical expenses, general damage, pain, suffering, and emotional distress.
“We hope Fadi gets fairly compensated for what he went through, and we will seek to get him the compensation he deserves for what happened,” Cohen said. “We’re looking to get the best result for our client, either through resolution or, if necessary, trial.”
This article appears in Jan 26 – Feb 2, 2017.