MARYSVILLE — A family has asked to withdraw from a $70 million damage claim they helped bring against Snohomish County last week over an October traffic accident which seriously injured two teens, including their son, and killed a third.
The parents of Andy Vavrousek, 17, told county attorneys Monday they no longer intend to seek the $20 million portion of the damage claim involving their son. A damage claim is a precursor to filing a lawsuit.
Beth and John Vavrousek said their son is expected to make a full recovery from injuries, so seeking damages for his recovery is unnecessary. Their goal all along, they said, was to bring attention to safety issues at the intersection where the crash occurred.
“We just want to urge the county take a good hard look at that road,” Beth Vavrousek said Tuesday. “We still believe that’s a dangerous road.”
The family of the other boy who was injured, Lars Kundu, 16, continues to pursue its damage claim.
The boys were passengers in a Honda Civic driven by cross-country teammate Juan Mendoza, 16, when the crash occurred on the afternoon of Oct. 24. The three had left school before cross-country practice, were headed to 7-Eleven and planned to return.
The car was headed west when it ran off the road at 108th Street NE and 83rd Avenue NE outside Marysville. It went down an embankment, then hit some trees. Mendoza died, and the other teens were airlifted to Harborview Medical Center.
The Sheriff’s Office has said speed appears to have been a factor. A full crash investigation, however, is likely to take months.
Andy Vavrousek, who suffered facial fractures and other injuries, has since returned to classes at Marysville Getchell High School.
“Andy’s injuries do not necessitate us being involved in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit,” his father, John Vavrousek, said Tuesday.
Lars Kundu suffered brain and spinal injuries plus several broken bones. He has returned home but has been unable to attend college classes he had been taking through the Running Start program, his mother, Nola Kundu, said last week.
Attorneys for the families of the surviving teens announced their damage claim Friday at a Seattle press conference. In addition to the damage amount, they asked the county to have an agency such as the Washington State Patrol conduct an independent crash investigation. They also sought an outside review to advise the county how to improve the design of 108th Street NE.
In a letter sent to the county this week, the Vavrouseks said, “Our intention in joining this action was never to get involved in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit, but rather to bring awareness to a long-standing safety concern.”
About a half dozen years ago, Andy Vavrousek joined his father in making a presentation to the county’s hearing examiner detailing their concerns about the very stretch of roadway where the accident occurred. Andy Vavrousek was then in fifth grade, his family said. The comments came during a hearing on new housing proposed for the area.
Attorney Ann Deutscher said Tuesday that the $50 million portion of the claim relating to Lars Kundu remains active. While attorney-client privilege prevents her from commenting on the Vavrousek family’s claim, Deutscher did say they have mutual interests.
“We wish the family the very best,” she said. “I think everyone shares the goal of getting that road fixed and that’s everybody’s primary impetus.”
Jason Cummings, the county’s chief civil deputy prosecuting attorney, said he was unable at this stage of the legal process to comment on the Vavrousek family’s decision to withdraw from the claim.
Mendoza’s parents, Rafael and Carmen Mendoza, did not participate in the damage claim. This past weekend, they issued a statement that began by thanking people for the outpouring of support after the loss of their son.
“While we respect the right of other families to pursue the course of action that they feel is best for them, we want to make it clear that we are not a party to the current lawsuit,” they said. “Nothing can remove the immeasurable grief that we carry with the loss of Juan and we just ask for room to continue to deal with this in the way that we feel is best for our family.”
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.
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