$4 Million Settlement for Family of Man Killed in Party Bus Accident

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GBW Announce $4 Million Settlement for Family of Man Killed After Falling from Party Bus on 101 Freeway

SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 27, 2016 — Attorneys with the Santa Monica Law Firm Greene Broillet & Wheeler, LLP announced Monday the $4,020,000 settlement of a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of the family of CJ Saraceno, a man killed after he fell out of a party bus and into traffic on the 101 Freeway near Studio City.

Attorneys Christine Spagnoli and Christian Nickerson represented the Saraceno family. The party bus, owned by the Hyros Corporation, was poorly maintained and had been cited by the CHP for safety violations 5 months before the September 2013incident, but was still in operation without repairs even after it was ordered off the road, Spagnoli said.

“The compressor that was supposed to keep the door to the bus closed while it was moving on the freeway wasn’t functional,” Spagnoli said. “They knew or should have known about the problem, didn’t fix it, and it cost CJ Saraceno his life.”

The pneumatic door system that failed is designed to provide enough air pressure to ensure the bus doors remain closed when the vehicle is moving. Discovery revealed that Hyros negligently maintained the bus and its component parts and this failure to safely transport its passengers resulted in a preventable tragedy.

“It’s something that should never have happened,” said Chris Saraceno, father of the 24-year-old victim.

Saraceno had moved to California from his native Connecticut and was working for a digital design agency. He was out celebrating a birthday with friends on the bus, which was traveling south on the 101 Freeway near Universal Studios Drive, the night he was killed. Other passengers on the bus say Saraceno was standing near the front, changing the music on the radio when the bus swerved and Saraceno lost his balance, falling down the stairway and through the door.

Friends tried to grab him as he slipped down the stairway to the exit, and Saraceno attempted to hold on to a handle and the bottom step, but he fell out of the bus onto the freeway and was hit by several cars.

The case exposed the gaps in enforcement of safety regulations for limo companies that maintain and operate these types of vehicles.

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  • Best Law Firms by US News

    Named in U.S. News - Best Lawyers® "Best Law Firms,” Greene Broillet & Wheeler, LLP ranks as Tier 1 Personal Injury firm in Los Angeles.

  • The Inner Circle of Advocates

    Founding partners Browne Greene and Bruce A. Broillet are both members of the exclusive invite-only Inner Circle of Advocates, as two of the top 100 plaintiff trial lawyers in America.

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    All of our attorneys are proud to be active members of the Los Angeles County Bar Association or LACBA.

  • Consumer Attorneys of California

    Many firm members have been honored by the Consumer Attorneys of California, including Browne Greene, Christine Spagnoli, and Bruce Broillet, recipients of the Marvin E. Lewis Award. In addition, attorneys Bruce Broillet, Scott Carr, Molly McKibben, and Tobin Lanzetta has been honored with the Consumer Attorney of the Year Award.

  • Best Lawyers

    All 15 of our attorneys have been selected to Best Lawyers® after an extensive peer review process.

  • Top 10 Wrongful Death Verdicts in California in 2019

    Our attorneys were featured in TopVerdict for having one of the Top 10 Wrongful Death Verdicts in California in 2019, with $15 million won for the plaintiff in Keck v. Bel-Air Bay Club.

  • Super Lawyers®

    Our firm has more attorneys on the Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars lists than any other law firm in Southern California, with 15 members selected.

  • CAALA

    Several partners are active members in the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, with attorneys Browne Greene, Bruce Broillet, and Christine Spagnoli named “Trial Lawyer of the Year."

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