Two local men were killed after their plane crashed in Arizona on Thursday morning.  The crash occurred at the Cochise County Airport in Willcox, an area east of Tucson.

The pilot, 47-year-old Glen Slagoske, and 27-year-old Shawn Muscat were in their two-seat, single-engine homebuilt plane when it crashed. Slagoske was an experienced pilot.  Muscat was a 2001 graduate from Poway High School.

The T-18’s first landing attempt was aborted when it came in too fast, and on the second try it appeared to pull up and stall before spiraling into the ground, according to witnesses.

Federal Aviation Administration records showed that Slagoske owned the plane, which was manufactured in 1970.

Slagoske and Muscat were the only occupants inside the single-engine Finney Thorp T-18, an experimental aircraft known for its speed and maneuvering.  The FAA and NTSB are in the area investigating the crash.

Muscat is survived by his wife and two young children.

If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, call or write a personal injury attorney  at the Gomez Law Firm today.

July 31, 2010 – SAN DIEGO — A 2-year-old boy was mauled to death by his family’s dog late Saturday morning inside a Tierrasanta home, police said.

The incident happened at 11:33 a.m. at a house on Lofberg Street in a military housing area just east of Interstate 15, said San Diego Police Department Sgt. Ray Battrick.

The boy, Aaron Carlson, was attacked in an upstairs bedroom in front of some or all of his three siblings: a 3-year-old brother and 5- and 7-year-old sisters, said police Lt. Rick O’Hanlon.

Their mother was laying on the downstairs couch of the two-story duplex when the oldest child alerted her to what happened, the lieutenant added. The father is a serviceman deployed overseas.

The victim was taken to Rady Children’s Hospital but couldn’t be saved, Battrick said.

“No criminal charges are pending,” O’Hanlan said. “It appeared the dog caused the injuries to the child. What provoked the animal to do this is unknown at this point.”

He said it was his understanding that there was no previous problem with the dog, a 1.5-year-old shepherd mix that the family has owned for about six months.

Authorities are investigating the incident, and the dog has been secured and will be taken away by animal control officers. Military security officers have restricted access to streets leading to the family’s home.

“At this point, it appears to be a horrible tragedy,” O’Hanlon said.

July 29, 2010 – OCEANSIDE — A 56-year-old nursery worker killed in an industrial accident was identified as Manuel Figueroa Moreno, the Medical Examiner’s Office said Thursday.

Moreno was working at Evergreen Nursery on Oceanside Boulevard near Rancho del Oro Drive Tuesday about 9 a.m. when a supervisor found him with the right side of his torso and arm wedged into a conveyor belt machine on a composting machine.

Moreno had stopped breathing and died at the scene.

Sunday, July 25, 2010 — In November 2008, a professional driver for Pizza Hut suddenly drove her car into oncoming traffic in Clairmont, hitting the vehicle driven by Olena Novak head-on.

As a result of the crash, a mother and daughter, Olena Novak, at the time 87, and Shari Novak, at the time 62, suffered severe injuries.  Olena suffered a broken neck and Shari suffered permanent brain damage and can no longer feed herself, communicate or provide for her own daily care.

Attorneys for the Novaks filed a personal-injury lawsuit last year against the driver and her employer, California-based Pizza Hut Inc. The 18-year-old driver, who suffered minor injuries, was eventually dropped from the suit.

Pizza Hut says the crash occurred because the driver had a seizure, which caused her to blackout momentarily while driving. They say her medical condition was not diagnosed until after the collision. Though never diagnosed with a seizure disorder, the driver had an extensive history of “blackout” and “starting spells.”

On Tuesday July 27, 2010 a San Diego Superior Court jury will be asked to decide whether Pizza Hut is responsible for the Novaks’ injuries — as the plaintiffs’ attorneys contend — for failing to realize that the teen was an unfit driver when they hired her.

“Pizza Hut has the responsibility of putting safe drivers on the road, on our roads,” said John Gomez, lawyer for Shari Novak, during closing arguments last week.

He said the Novaks are entitled to unspecified damages, including lost wages, past and future medical expenses, and pain and suffering damages.

Representatives for Pizza Hut say the company did its due diligence when hiring the driver, Nicole Fisk, who had a valid California driver’s license, her own car — a Hyundai Elantra — and insurance.

“Pizza Hut did nothing wrong at the time they hired Nicole,” said James Yukevich, an attorney for the defendant. “The accident had nothing to do with training or supervision,”

Yukevich argued in court that the core issue is whether Fisk could know before the collision, on Clairemont Drive near Ute Drive, that she would be suddenly incapacitated by the onset of an epileptic seizure.

“Nicole, if asked, would have told Pizza Hut that she had no health problems that would affect her ability to be a driver,” he said.

Citing testimony from the case, Yukevich told the jury that Fisk went with her mother to a doctor in January 2007, complaining of “staring spells.” She saw several doctors between January and August 2007, when she reportedly had trouble breathing and at times was unresponsive, but she was not diagnosed with epilepsy.

“Nicole didn’t realize she was blacking out,” Yukevich said.

He said that it wasn’t until after the collision that she learned she was suffering from a “complex seizure disorder.”

Gomez said that Pizza Hut was shifting blame for its negligence to the doctors who treated Fisk and to the state Department of Motor Vehicles, which issued Fisk a driver’s license. He said that the DMV sets a minimum standard for California motorists and that Pizza Hut should have done more to ensure that Fisk, who was hired as a professional driver, was also a safe driver.

Gomez called the assertion that Fisk couldn’t remember her seizure “a little convenient.”

“‘I don’t remember’ doesn’t make it right,” he said.

July 1, 2010 – SAN DIEGO — A suspected drunken driver crashed through a chain-link fence, crossed a field and hit an electrical box early Thursday morning, leaving one passenger with major head injuries, police said.

The woman, who was in her 30s, was driving a Pontiac Firebird west on Paradise Valley Road near South Meadowbrook Drive in Bay Terraces when she drove off the road, police said.

The driver suffered minor injuries and was being held for observation, said police Sgt. Ray Battrick. Charges against her are pending, he said.

A man riding in the car was taken to the hospital with major head injuries and a female passenger suffered minor injuries, police said.

June 24, 2010 – WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC),with the cooperation of seven firms, is announcing voluntary recalls of more than two million cribs to address drop-side hazards and other hazards that affect the safety of young children. The recalling firms are providing consumers with free repair kits to immobilize the drop sides or other remedies. Do not attempt to fix these cribs with homemade remedies.

The drop-side and fixed-side crib recalls announced today are of units manufactured between 2000 and 2009 by the companies listed below.

* Child Craft, (this firm is out of business): Fixed-Side | Drop-Side

* Delta Enterprise Corp., of New York, N.Y.

* Evenflo, of Miamisburg, Ohio

* Jardine Enterprises, of Taipei, Taiwan

* LaJobi, of Cranbury, N.J.

* Million Dollar Baby, of Montebello, Calif.

* Simmons Juvenile Products Inc. (SJP), of New London, Wis.

“Cribs should be the safest place in the home for infants and toddlers,” said CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum. “CPSC is committed to addressing the hazards with cribs and to restoring parents’ confidence that their child will have a safe sleep.”

CPSC continues to actively investigate various cribs for potential drop-side and other hazards as part of a larger effort by the agency to rid the marketplace and homes of unsafe cribs. CPSC staff is also working on a new mandatory standard to make cribs safer, which is targeted for completion in 2010.

The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) has also launched a new crib safety initiative. The listed manufacturers are providing free drop-side crib immobilization kits to prevent the drop side from detaching, plus replacement hardware and assembly instructions for cribs manufactured by participating firms. These materials are available free to any consumer by request.

CPSC issued a warning last month alerting parents and caregivers that there can be deadly hazards associated with drop-side cribs. Nine million drop-side cribs have been recalled over the past five years. CPSC staff has determined drop-side cribs generally have a tendency to be less structurally sound than cribs with four fixed sides.

Drop-side crib incidents can also occur due to incorrect assembly or age-related wear and tear. Age is a factor in the safety of any crib. At a minimum, CPSC staff recommends that you not use a crib that is older than 10 years. Many older cribs do not meet current voluntary standards and can have numerous safety problems.

If you or a loved one has been injured by a defective product, contact the Defective Product lawyers of the Gomez Law Firm today.

June 22, 2010 – WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

Name of Product: Baby Walkers

Units: About 8,400

Importer: Suntech Enterprises Inc., of Commerce, Calif.

Hazard: The recalled walkers can fit through a standard doorway and fail to have sufficient stair-fall protection to prevent falls down stairs. Babies using these walkers can be seriously injured or killed if they fall down stairs.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported.

Description: The baby walkers have a plastic frame supported by four wheels and eight brake pads. The walkers were sold in blue, pink, and green with a white activity tray and patterned, vinyl seat. Item number WK110 or WK112 is printed on the side of the packaging.

Sold at: Small juvenile product stores in California, Illinois, New York and Texas from January 2007 through December 2009 for between $25 and $30.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the walkers and return them to the store where purchased for a full refund.

Note: This recall is being conducted voluntarily, however, in May 2010, CPSC issued a new mandatory rule on baby walkers that is effective on December 21, 2010. The walkers will be required to either: 1) be too wide to fit through a standard doorway, or 2) have features, such as a gripping mechanism, to stop the walker at the edge of a step.

If you or a loved one has been injured by a defective product, contact the Defective Product lawyers of the Gomez Law Firm today.

June 14, 2010 – Portland Shellfish Company, Inc. is voluntarily recalling the following brands of cooked, ready to eat fresh or frozen lobster meat: Portland Shellfish Co. Inc brand, Claw island, Craig’s All Natural, and Inland Ocean cooked, fresh or frozen lobster claw and knuckle meat as recent tests show the product has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

The recalled products were distributed nationwide in wholesale and retail stores.

Recalled products and Lot numbers:

LOBSTER CLAW & KNUCKLE MEAT, CS 6 x 2 LB, packed under the Claw Island, Craig’s All Natural or Inland Ocean brand, production lot numbers 13210, 13310, and 13410, shipped between 05/14/2010 and 05/26/2010.

LOBSTER KNUCKLE MEAT, CS 6 x 2 LB, packed under the Inland Ocean brand, production lot numbers 13210, shipped on 05/13/2010.

LOBSTER CLAW & KNUCKLE MEAT, CS 18 x 15 oz, packed under the Claw Island brand, production lot numbers 13210 and 13410, shipped between 05/25/2010 and 06/08/2010.

LOBSTER CLAW & KNUCKLE MEAT, CS 20 x 8 oz, packed under the Craig’s All Natural brand, production lot numbers 13210, shipped on 05/14/2010.

LOBSTER KNUCKLE MEAT, 1 LB bag, fresh, packed under Portland shellfish brand, production lot number 13310, shipped on 05/12/2010.

LOBSTER CLAW & KNUCKLE MEAT, 4 oz bag, fresh, packed under Portland shellfish brand, production lot number 13310, shipped on 05/13/2010.

LOBSTER CLAW & KNUCKLE MEAT, 1 LB bag, fresh, packed under Portland shellfish brand, production lot number 13210 and 13310, shipped on 05/12/2010 and 05/13/2010.

LOBSTER CLAW & KNUCKLE MEAT, 2 LB bag, fresh, packed under Portland shellfish brand, production lot number 13210 and 13310, shipped on 05/12/2010 05/13/2010, 05/14/2010.

LOBSTER CLAW & KNUCKLE MEAT, 5 LB bag, fresh, packed under Portland shellfish brand, production lot number 13210, shipped on 05/12/2010.

Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

If you or a loved one has been injured by a defective product, contact the Defective Product lawyers of the Gomez Law Firm today.

June 9, 2010 – According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Defect Investigations (ODI), Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) is recalling Model Year 2010 and 2011 Freightliners MT55 Chassis manufactured from June 18, 2009 through April 15, 2010, and equipped with certain Eaton hybrid transmissions with park feature.  The reverse idler shaft may contact the part feature and the two components may bind, preventing the park feature from engaging.  If the park feature does not engage, the vehicle can move without warning, possible resulting in personal injury or a crash.

At the Gomez Law Firm, we have extensive experience representing the victims of auto defects, including roof crush, tire defects and rollovers.  If you or someone you love has been the victim of any defective product, call or write a personal injury attorney at the Gomez Law Firm today.

June 9, 2010 – A California Highway Patrol motorcycle officer and four others were taken to the hospital Wednesday after a three-vehicle crash shut down the northbound 405 Freeway, backing up traffic for miles.

The accident occurred about 8:35 a.m. as the officer, a 27-year veteran based at the CHP’s West Los Angeles station, was making a traffic stop on the right shoulder of the highway near the Interstate 10 interchange, said CHP Officer Miguel Luevano.

A passing car veered into the officer, shoving him and his motorcycle forward into the stopped vehicle, Luevano said. The force of the impact caused the stopped vehicle, an SUV, to overturn, he added. The officer was pinned in the tangle of car wreckage until rescuers extricated him, Luevano said.

The officer was taken to the nearby UCLA Medical Center. The three occupants of the SUV and the driver of the car were also transported to the hospital with undisclosed injuries.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

The northbound freeway remained closed between Venice Boulevard and I-10, while two lanes of the southbound side are shut down.