Four teenage cheerleaders who were rear-ended by the allegedly intoxicated former mayor of Murrieta filed a lawsuit against him on Monday over the crash.
The girls were injured Oct. 16 when the vehicle in which they were traveled was struck by a pickup truck driven by then-Mayor Alan Long, who was arrested at the scene of the crash.
One of the cheerleaders, Melissa Reynolds, has still not recovered from the crash, according to her grandmother.
“She’s in a lot of pain, she’s suffering,” Rozette Dewart said. “She’s suffering tremendously.”
Long, 44, resigned from Murrieta City Council following the crash, and was later charged with felony drunken driving.
Long, who is also a battalion chief with the city of Anaheim’s fire department, won re-election on Nov. 4. Though he stepped down from council, Long continued to run for a second term, saying he believed he would be “exonerated” once all the facts about the crash came out.
On Monday, sisters Chloe and Camille Rogers, along with Melissa Reynolds and Adrienna Williams, filed a lawsuit against Long alleging negligence in connection with violation of state drunken and reckless driving laws.
“As fire battalion chief and as a ‘first responder’ and as mayor of the city of Murrieta at the time of the incident, Alan William Long had sworn to uphold these laws, yet he knowingly and intentionally violated them,” the complaint stated.
“Long has special and extensive training and knowledge of the criminality of drinking and driving and of the grave dangers to himself and others posed by his drinking and driving; but he nonetheless chose to drink until intoxicated and then operate his vehicle … ,” the complaint continued.
KTLA is seeking comment from Long on the lawsuit.
Long’s blood-alcohol content was .08 percent — the legal limit for impairment — at the time of the crash, according to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.
The DA’s officer announced a criminal charge against Long on Oct. 30, and he was scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 11 on one count of driving under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury.
The civil complaint against Long alleges the four teens had “severe personal injuries” that prompted medical expenses and loss of earnings.
The teens were described by police at the time of the crash as Murrieta Valley High School students aged 14 to 17.
The lawsuit, filed by Riverside attorney Jean-Simon Serrano, seeks unspecified damages.
Alongside the girls’ parents, Serrano discussed the lawsuit at a news conference in Riverside Monday. He alleged that Long tried to delay the arrival of authorities on the night of the crash.
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