Edhat StaffBy edhat staff
A Santa Barbara-based company has been named in a wrongful death lawsuit where a Marine’s wife died after hitting her head in a parking lot last summer.
After a night of dancing on June 14, John Pinkham, 23, was carrying his new wife Robyn, 22, in his arms when he tripped on a pothole outside of the Coyote Bar and Grill in Carlsbad, California. Robyn suffered a severe head injury and died five days later, according to KNSD in San Diego.
Pinkham is now suing SVF, LLC based in Santa Barbara, which also operates under the name SIMA Corporation, as it owns and manages the restaurant in the Village Faire shopping mall. The lawsuit is accusing the company of failing to maintain the parking lot in a safe condition and causing the accident, reports KNSD.
It is unclear whether alcohol played a role in the fatal accident.
SIMA Corporation is involved with “approximately 1.25 million square feet of commercial properties, including boutique shopping centers, a regional mall, mixed-use retail/ office properties, commercial office buildings and approximately 2,452 units of multi-family residential properties located throughout the United States,” according to their website.
The company was founded in 1984 and manages several local buildings including 1129 State Street which houses CorePower Yoga, El Paseo, Victoria Court, Santa Barbara and Cathedral Oaks Athletic Clubs, the Santa Ynez Inn, and more.
I’m terribly sorry for his loss but the idea that a 23 y.o. Marine out dancing all night hadn’t been drinking is like believing that wild bears come in the city to poop in the restroom.
Since when is a lessee in a mall responsible for maintenance of the parking lot? Sounds like “let’s sue everyone and see what sticks…..”
The article is poorly written. A little google research shows that SIMA owns the shopping center. The article makes is seem as they are suing a tenant of the center.
Based on the information available, it’s not possible to determine whether the right entity is named as a defendant. In addition to some obvious potential flaws with the merits, the linked article notes the following:
People working at stores within Village Faire said the company takes good care of the space and patches the parking spaces every summer. One restaurant manager said the area in question is actually not a parking lot but a street owned by the city of Carlsbad. One side of that street is used by the North County Transit for commuter parking.
The law firm suing on behalf of the family said more defendants could be added to the suit. The law firm did not answer questions about whether the couple had been drinking and if that may have played a role in the fall.
I’m sure the defense will be probing who had how much to drink and exactly why the guy was carrying his girlfriend.
I’ll bet the coyote bar and grill has cameras that can confirm if and how much he drank that night.
Another sign of the time – sue any and all until you get a few dollars “SAD”
Tragic yes. Payday no.
Maybe sniffing for a settlement ….
What’s tragic is that this article provides little insight into the issues around the lawsuit and that many of the comments display pessimism without having all the facts. I rarely rarely read the comments on Edhat because I finding they are negative and lack thoughtfulness or critical thinking. Frankly, the meanness I see here makes me very sad. I believe people can do better. If people were not doing this anonymously, would the make the same comments? Is this true public discourse? Perhaps it is time to discontinue the comments on Edhat?
sure to be contributory negligence by both parties. It used to be called an unfortunate accident, now its Jacoby & Myers
Better yet, Larry H. Parker – ambulance chaser extraordinaire
“Larry H. Parker got me ….”
Ka-Ching $
He has every right to sue; he is desperate. Everyone of you would do the same. Meanness about this is really ugly. JM129 is right.
Not discontinue the comments, but make it so it is not anonymous. Although NextDoor is not anonymous and you would be surprised what neighbors will post there.
JM129, have you ever been on the internet before? Have you ever read comments on any website ever? It’s not unique to edhat. On facebook, Nextdoor, Youtube, Twitter, Instagram… literally every website has this issue as it’s the nature of humans. Choose to find the good and ignore the bad, just like in life. Also this comment is way off topic and doesn’t relate to the article.