Accident Claims Rejected by Avalon
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The Avalon City Council has refused claims filed against the city stemming from a boating accident off the Santa Catalina Island coast that killed two Orange County men and injured three others in December.
The claims allege that a harbor patrol officer observed the pilot of a 19-foot fishing boat drunk and cruising at high speeds, but failed to take preventive action before the boat crashed on rocks.
One of the claims was filed by Newport Beach resident Mary Glose, whose husband, William Glose, 33, and son, Sean Caudillo, 22, were killed. Both men were passengers on the Impulse, which crashed on the rocks off Lovers Cove on the island’s east coast. The claim sought an unspecified amount for wrongful death and various expenses.
A separate claim seeking $275,000 was filed by David Wilken of Costa Mesa, a passenger on the boat.
The men were among four passengers aboard the boat, which was piloted and owned by Alfred Gausewitz. The claim alleges that a harbor patrol officer should have issued a warning or stopped the boat before it left Avalon Harbor. Gausewitz and another passenger survived the crash.
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