Parents of Boy Killed Near School Crossing File Suit

The parents of a boy killed last year near a school crosswalk that residents have repeatedly called unsafe have filed a lawsuit against the City of Villa Park and the Orange Unified School District.

Dale and June Dagley of Villa Park claimed that the death of their son, Jeffrey, 13, last Dec. 2 was due in part to poor street design and maintenance, a lack of crossing guards and inadequate traffic controls and crosswalks.

Driver Named in Suit

The Dagley youth was struck by an auto driven by Joanne Tomi Matsui, who was also named as defendant in the suit.

Three weeks later, another student, Mitchell Soper, 12, was struck and fatally injured near the crosswalk.

The Dagleys’ attorney, Robert A. Wilson, said parents have complained about the crosswalk, near the intersection of Taft and Nichols avenues in Villa Park, since 1982.

Since the two deaths, stop signs have been placed on Taft, police have stepped up traffic patrols and an electric signal has been ordered, according to Roger Duthoy, assistant school superintendent.

“We think it’s a much safer situation than it has ever been before,” said Duthoy, who declined to comment directly on the lawsuit.

Wilson said four schools are nearby--two elementary schools, Villa Park High School and Cerro Villa Junior High School, which both boys attended.

“In 1982, parents got together and went to the City Council, requesting a traffic signal. They were turned down,” Wilson said.

Petitioned in 1984

“In 1984, they petitioned for further safeguards, and the council restriped the crosswalk and extended no-parking zones along Taft, but no signs or signals were installed,” Wilson continued.

“If these (latest) safety precautions had been taken (before), motorists would have been more aware that this is a school zone,” Wilson said. “Common sense says they (authorities) knew something about it in 1982, and they finally did something about it in 1986.”

Both the city and the school district in March denied administrative claims filed by the Dagleys.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. The parents, who had asked for $375,000 against the school district in their administrative claim, declined to be interviewed.

Wilson acknowledged that the improvements made after the deaths may not be used as evidence in the trial.

‘The law is making a value judgment; they want to encourage people to enact remedial measures,” Wilson said. “If you know that when you fix it they’ll use it against you later, you don’t fix it and you have more problems. It would encourage more accidents.”