Slydragon
02-28-2008, 05:25 PM
HILO, Hawaii -- A Hilo couple is suing a California auto body shop after their son died in a car crash in which the airbags were missing
Mary and Robert Ellsworth have only photos to remember their son Bobby, who was 18 when he died in an accident near San Diego five years ago.
"Any parent out there who's ever lost a child will know that it's the worst pain that you can have," Robert Ellsworth said.
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Bobby Ellsworth died after his friend fell asleep while driving a pickup truck on a road in El Cajon, Calif. in July 2003.
A couple of weeks after the crash, police told the Ellsworths something that shocked them further.
"Bobby's life was prevented from going on because of paper towels stuffed in airbags. It was the ultimate pain and dagger in our heart," Robert Ellsworth said.
"It made me angry," Mary Ellsworth said.
Photos taken by accident investigators showed the airbags in the truck deployed, but they were stuffed with paper. Crash investigators found the air bags' covers had been sealed to make them look like they were functional.
The Ellsworths sued the owner of a Los Angeles auto body shop, which sold the truck to their son's friend after it had been totaled in a previous accident.
"He went to this auction and purchased this vehicle that had the airbags clearly deployed, went into his shop and just glued the compartments back on," Ellsworths' attorney Julia Haus said.
When a reporter from KITV's sister station in San Diego tried to interview Arnold Parra at his shop, he refused to speak.
"We want talk to you. The truck that you sold to the blockers, did you stuff it with newspaper?" the reporter asked.
He ran away. It would have cost about $2,400 to repair the two air bags, shown in insurance photos that deployed after a previous accident.
Parra's attorney denied that his client sealed the deployed airbags or stuffed them with newspaper. He said that all Parra did was repair the front bumper.
"I have said many times, 'He has blood on his hands,'" Haus said.
Back in Hilo, the Ellsworths are pushing for the creation of a national database of salvaged vehicles.
"If it can just save one life, it's all worth it, because a lot of people don't know what they're driving around in these days," the Ellsworths said.
They recommend that if you buy a used vehicle, you should spend the $100 it costs to have it checked out by a mechanic to make sure key safety features actually work.
http://www.kitv.com/news/15427747/detail.html
Mary and Robert Ellsworth have only photos to remember their son Bobby, who was 18 when he died in an accident near San Diego five years ago.
"Any parent out there who's ever lost a child will know that it's the worst pain that you can have," Robert Ellsworth said.
sponsor
Bobby Ellsworth died after his friend fell asleep while driving a pickup truck on a road in El Cajon, Calif. in July 2003.
A couple of weeks after the crash, police told the Ellsworths something that shocked them further.
"Bobby's life was prevented from going on because of paper towels stuffed in airbags. It was the ultimate pain and dagger in our heart," Robert Ellsworth said.
"It made me angry," Mary Ellsworth said.
Photos taken by accident investigators showed the airbags in the truck deployed, but they were stuffed with paper. Crash investigators found the air bags' covers had been sealed to make them look like they were functional.
The Ellsworths sued the owner of a Los Angeles auto body shop, which sold the truck to their son's friend after it had been totaled in a previous accident.
"He went to this auction and purchased this vehicle that had the airbags clearly deployed, went into his shop and just glued the compartments back on," Ellsworths' attorney Julia Haus said.
When a reporter from KITV's sister station in San Diego tried to interview Arnold Parra at his shop, he refused to speak.
"We want talk to you. The truck that you sold to the blockers, did you stuff it with newspaper?" the reporter asked.
He ran away. It would have cost about $2,400 to repair the two air bags, shown in insurance photos that deployed after a previous accident.
Parra's attorney denied that his client sealed the deployed airbags or stuffed them with newspaper. He said that all Parra did was repair the front bumper.
"I have said many times, 'He has blood on his hands,'" Haus said.
Back in Hilo, the Ellsworths are pushing for the creation of a national database of salvaged vehicles.
"If it can just save one life, it's all worth it, because a lot of people don't know what they're driving around in these days," the Ellsworths said.
They recommend that if you buy a used vehicle, you should spend the $100 it costs to have it checked out by a mechanic to make sure key safety features actually work.
http://www.kitv.com/news/15427747/detail.html