LOS ANGELES - A lawsuit argues that a defective tire caused last week's pickup truck crash on Interstate 10 in Ontario that killed five family members.
The suit, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Federal Court, accuses Continental Tire North America Inc. of wrongful death, negligence, product liability and breach of implied warranty.
It was filed on behalf of two women whose mother, father and 4-year-old brother died in the March 15 crash.
Two others died and two children were hurt when the 2000 Ford F-150 pickup went out of control near the Vineyard Avenue exit, struck a tree and then a wall.
The cause of the crash remained under investigation but the California Highway Patrol took a left rear tire that lost its tread for examination.
"It's one of the factors being investigated," CHP Officer Sean Cooper said. He added Wednesday that it would take three to six months for the investigation to be completed, definitively determining what caused the crash.
The lawsuit argues that the tire had a manufacturing defect, lost its tread and caused the crash.
The tire, which was purchased new in March 2006, was the same size and type as the model that was recalled in 2002 because there was a chance that the tread could detach, said Federico Sayre, the attorney who filed the suit.
A call to Continental in Charlotte, N.C., seeking comment was not immediately returned Wednesday.
The suit mirrors one filed on behalf of family members killed in a May 2002 rollover on Interstate 15 near Barstow. Lawyers argued that a Continental tire on the Ford Expedition suddenly lost its tread, causing the SUV to overturn. Six people died.
The suit was settled out of court, and but its terms were not available.
Wednesday's suit was filed on behalf of sisters Yuri Camacho, 23, and VerginiaCamacho, 21, both of Madera. They were not in the truck at the time of the crash that killed their parents, Prisca Malagon Camacho, 40, and Rene Camacho Pena, 42, along with their 4-year-old brother, Jordy Camacho Malagon.
Also killed were Malagon Camacho's sister-in-law, Mercedes Malagon Ortiz, 31, and Ortiz's 9-year-old daughter, Raquel Malagon Camacho.
A 10-year-old boy and a 3-year-old boy who had been in a car seat were injured. They are cousins of Yuri and Verginia Camacho. One lost his leg below the knee but both are expected to survive, Sayre said.
According to Sayre, the Camacho family was originally from a farm town in Guanajuato, Mexico.
The parents lived and worked in the Central Valley community of Madera for some years but they and other victims were living in Ontario at the time of the crash.
15 Passenger Van Rollover
