Family of double-fatal Ceres crash victim files lawsuit against driver, boyfriend
The father of one of two men killed in an alleged DUI crash in Ceres has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the driver and her boyfriend, who had been arrested earlier in the day on separate DUI charges and whose truck later was used in the fatal wreck.
Twenty-eight-year-old Fair Oaks resident Danielle Morgan was arrested for the Dec. 11 collision in which a Ford F350 pickup truck struck a Nissan Altima and killed its two occupants, 19-year-old Turlock men Favian Reinoso and Yahir Gomez.
The father of Reinoso, who was the passenger in the Nissan Altima that was hit, filed the civil suit on Tuesday in Stanislaus County Superior Court. Claiming wrongful death and personal injury, the suit seeks unspecified and unlimited damages exceeding $25,000 from Morgan and her boyfriend, David Petrik.
The attorney representing Reinoso’s family, Adam Stewart of Modesto, said the family is seeking “in excess of $1 million” for the fatal DUI collision.
“We’re going to find every asset these people have,” Stewart said. “Two people were killed because of someone’s carelessness and indifference. (The victim) had warnings earlier in the day and went out and continued to drink. It could have all ended right there. It’s a nightmare, certainly.”
The suit has been filed against Morgan, who was driving the Ford F350 truck at the time of the accident, and Petrik, who owns the truck and had been arrested for DUI earlier the same day in Modesto.
About four hours before the Ceres wreck, at 4 p.m. Dec. 11, police stopped Petrik for speeding in the the Vintage Faire Mall parking lot. Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Sharon Bear said the 30-year-old Orangevale man was arrested for DUI and being in possession of a concealed firearm in his vehicle.
The truck was then released to a male friend of Petrik’s and Morgan’s. The friend drove the truck away, with Morgan in the passenger seat, Bear said. Neither showed signs of intoxication, she said, so neither was checked for sobriety by officers before the vehicle was handed over to them.
At about 8 p.m. that same night, Morgan is accused of running a red light while driving the Ford south on Crows Landing Road. Ceres police said she then struck the Nissan carrying Reinoso and Gomez, who had been traveling east on Whitmore Avenue.
Morgan was arrested and booked into the Stanislaus County jail. She has since posted the $750,000 bail and faces charges of gross vehicular manslaughter, felony DUI and other enhancements. She is next scheduled to appear in court Feb. 2.
Petrik, who had been arrested and booked in jail the same day as Morgan, also is no longer in custody, according to Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department records.
In the court filing, Cesar Reinoso, Favian Reinoso’s father, seeks “economic and non-economic damages including but not limited to medical expenses, mental and physical pain and suffering, the deceased lost wages and/or expected earnings, funeral and burial expenses, mental anguish and loss of love and society from the deceased.”
Stewart said other defendants may be added to their suit in the future as they learn more about the incidents. They are seeking more information about Petrik’s male friend, who drove away his truck from the arrest.
Stewart said he also has concerns about the Modesto Police Department’s handling of Petrik’s DUI and release of the truck, instead of having it towed from the scene.
“We certainly want to make sure the Modesto Police Department handled it appropriately when turning it over to the person without conducting a field sobriety check,” he said. “I know that (the family) wants the full measure of justice both civilly and criminally. They’re very committed.”
Stewart is not representing the Gomez family, whose son Yahir Gomez was driving the Nissan at the time of the crash.
Both families have set up crowdfunding accounts to pay for funeral and other costs. Reinoso’s GoFundMe is titled “Favian’s Funeral Expenses,” and Gomez’s is “Yahir Ulises Gomez Valladar funeral.”
“We have our hearts broken,” Gomez’s parents wrote on the page they created, “there’s no words to describe what (we’re) going through.”
The first hearing in the civil case is scheduled for April 25, 2022.
This story was originally published December 23, 2021 at 11:18 AM.
