A lawsuit filed in October alleges a Long Beach-based trucking company is partially responsible for the deaths of five family members whose car was rear-ended by a truck in Colorado last year.
Caminantes Logistics, a registered motor carrier and shipper in Long Beach, was negligent when it allowed a subcontracted employee without a valid trucking license to get behind the wheel of a poorly maintained 1999 Kenworth T800 on June 13, 2022, according to the wrongful death lawsuit in Colorado court.
The truck driver, identified by authorities as Colorado resident Jesus Puebla, was driving the Kenworth T800 on I-25 near mile marker 243 when he crashed into a Ford Edge, Ford Focus and Mitsubishi Outlander that were slowing for traffic in the area, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
The impact of the crash killed a family of five: Emilano Godines, Christina Godines, Aaron Godinez, Halie Everts and Tessleigh Godinez, who were in the Ford Edge and headed back home to Wyoming, according to authorities.
Puebla, who has since been charged by the Weld County District Attorney’s Office with five counts of vehicular manslaughter, and one count each of vehicular assault, careless driving, reckless driving, commercial vehicle safety violation and driving without a commercial licenese, is accused of driving up to 70 mph when he crashed into the vehicles, which were traveling between 5 and 10 miles per hour, according to the lawsuit.
Even though driver Puebla is rightfully facing criminal charges, the lawsuit is seeking accountability for the trucking company as well, said Grant H. Lawson, the attorney representing the victims’ estate, because, “They put him in a truck they knew was unsafe and there’s no (criminal) repercussions for them.”
Caminantes, according to the lawsuit, was contracted by the United States Postal Service to pick up and deliver mail along the Front Range communities north of Denver, Colorado.
Caminantes Logistics owner Jose Mauricio Coreas then subcontracted the deal and hired his son’s now-defunct trucking company in Colorado, Lucky22, to handle the job, according to the lawsuit.
Coreas did not respond to a request for comment when contacted through a phone number listed on the Department of Transportation website.
Despite knowing that the Kenworth truck was defective, had unmaintained brakes, and had no insurance, Lucky22 still allowed Puebla to drive it, according to the lawsuit.
“This is a company that knew and was alerted over two years prior that they were so unsafe that they couldn’t get insurance, and their insurance company actually canceled their contract,” Lawson said. Caminantes then “misrepresented themselves to the world that it was still an insured trucking company so that it could still do business.”
Just hours after the wreck, Lucky22 tried to add the truck Puebla was driving to its insurance policy, according to a report from the Denver Post.
A spokesperson with the United States Postal Service, which is also listed in the lawsuit, declined to comment on the allegations but said they no longer contract with Caminantes.
“It’s such a horrendous tragedy,” Lawson said. “If everyone did their job this never would have happened.”