Attorney John Demas represented the family of M.P. who was tragically killed in a motor vehicle crash. The lawsuit resulted in a $5,000,000 policy-limits settlement.
In the early morning hours of September 2, 2022, 50-year-old M.P. was driving home from work along Peltier Road in San Joaquin County. As he approached the intersection with Kennefick Road, tragedy struck. A commercial tractor-trailer loaded with freshly harvested grapes barreled through the intersection and struck M.P. on the driver’s side of his car. His vehicle sustained major damage, and M.P. was trapped inside, barely conscious and suffering from catastrophic injuries. The defendant driver, rather than stopping to help, fled the scene and began to try to hide evidence of his involvement in the crash.
The defendant detached the trailers, drove to a friend’s barn, and stashed the damaged tractor. When law enforcement arrived, he lied about his identity and concocted a cover-up. Investigators tracked a trail of leaking fuel to the barn, and eventually, the defendant confessed to fleeing the scene. Despite emergency responders’ heroic efforts, M.P. succumbed to his injuries.
A father, a husband, and a tireless provider, M.P. was the backbone of his family — a man who spent decades working in California’s vineyards to give his children the opportunities he never had.
Demas Law Group was retained by M.P.’s family to represent them in a wrongful death action. DLG pursued claims not just against the defendant driver, but also against the owners of the tractor and trailer, and the winery that owned the grapes the defendant was hauling. DLG relentlessly pursued the case, advanced novel theories of liability, and eventually secured insurance policy limits from all named defendants that totaled $5,000,000.
At Demas Law Group, we are honored to have helped the family find justice and closure after an unspeakable loss.
