Wrongful Death - Article - Family of Santa Ana Man Killed by Tow Truck Accepts $2 Million

Posted on Feb 04, 2006 | Associated Press

Family of Santa Ana man killed by tow truck accepts $2 million

Associated Press

SANTA ANA , Calif. - The family of a man who was run over and killed while chasing a tow truck driver who had taken his car has settled a wrongful death lawsuit for $2 million.

Leoncio Flores, 42, was run over last June as he ran after the truck and pleaded with its driver to release his car, said Federico Sayre, the attorney representing Flores ' family. Flores, a forklift operator, had illegally parked his SUV while he carried groceries into his Santa Ana condominium, Sayre said.

The case cast a spotlight on the practice of predatory towing, in which tow truck drivers wait for motorists to park illegally and then tow their vehicles.

Witnesses told police that the truck driver, Paul Michael Sassenberger, 30, played cat-and-mouse with Flores in the parking lot, speeding up and slowing down as Flores ran after him. At one point, Flores grabbed the side of the truck, lost his grip and was run over by the truck and the SUV.

Sassenberger faces criminal charges stemming from this incident and nine other predatory towing allegations. He has pleaded not guilty to 26 felony counts and two misdemeanors, including vehicular manslaughter, extortion, assault and reckless driving.

The settlement will go to Flores ' widow, ex-wife, three children and two stepchildren. It will be paid by insurance companies for Pepe's Towing, which employed Sassenberger, and the condominium homeowners association, which had not authorized the towing.

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