Suits Filed Against City in Power Pole Accident

Claims totaling $70 million were filed against the city of Los Angeles Thursday on behalf of a 6-month-old child and the husband of a woman who was fatally crushed during a freak accident near Cal State Los Angeles earlier this month.

Two suits were filed by the family of Rosalva Gomez Leyva, 27, who was killed June 4 by a falling power pole that had been severed by the boom of a construction drilling rig swinging free as the vehicle rounded a corner in East Los Angeles. The child was seriously hurt.

The claims blame the city for failing to “provide a safe-walking area for pedestrians” by the “improper placement” of power poles and lines too close to traffic lanes at the intersection of Medford Street and Eastern and Marianna avenues.

During the accident an 11-year-old girl, Lisa Solano, also was killed, and her mother, Lourdes Solano, 29, was seriously injured. All four victims were residents of Woodbridge Village Apartments in the City Terrace area.