Truck Accidents 360 Newswire

PASADENA, CA – On Oct 9, 2009, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge dismissed murder charges against Marcos Costa, the 44 year old driver of a semi truck from Everett, Massachusetts who was involved in a tragic accident on April 1, 2009. In the semi truck accident, a 12-year-old girl and her father, Angel Posca, both of Palmdale, CA, were killed when the big rig crashed into their car. The semi truck came barreling down the hill on the Angeles Crest Highway striking their car, then continuing on through the Foothill Boulevard intersection in La Crescenta, Flintridge.

Marcos Costa in a Los Angeles County Courtroom

In the semi truck accident, the big rig’s brakes went out as Costa was coming down the Angeles Crest Highway approaching the intersection at Foothill Blvd. The big rig struck the vehicle carrying Posca and his daughter north of the intersection, then continued on down the hill colliding with several vehicles along the way. The truck came to a stop when it plowed into the Flintridge Bookstore.

Below you can see the skid marks from the semi truck skidding to a stop in the Flintridge Bookstore.

Scene of the truck accident where the skid marks end in the Flintridge Bookstore

Costa was originally charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter. Subsequently, a Los Angeles County grand jury returned an indictment of two counts of murder against him with additional charges of great bodily injury to be added to the vehicular manslaughter charges. Costa also had three counts of reckless driving, causing injury to three other victims.

Costa is being held in custody on $600,000 bail. Even though the murder charges have been dismissed, he still faces five charges of vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving. Costa’s attorney, Steve Meister, said “This case was a tragic accident, not a murder.” If convicted, he faces more than eight years in prison.

In response to the tragic April 1st semi truck accident, immediately afterwards a 90-day ban was instituted prohibiting five-axle trucks from traversing the steep Angeles Crest Highway between the 210 Freeway and the Angeles Forest Highway. The temporary ban was made permanent at a later time.

Below is a Google street view of the scene of the accident at the intersection of Angeles Crest Highway and Foothill Blvd. You can click and drag your mouse button and pan around and see the storefront of the Flintridge Bookstore where the semi truck came to a halt.

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Los Angeles truck accident lawyer for victims, Steve Gordon, talks about how How Bad Truck Brakes Cause Accidents. See video.

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