Parents file lawsuit in Piedmont Cybertruck crash that killed 3 college students

The Temporary

• The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Alameda County Superior Courtroom.

• The mother and father of 19-year-old Krysta Tsukahara are suing the property of Soren Dixon, the driving force of the Cybertruck, together with Charles Patterson, the proprietor of the automotive concerned within the crash.

• The mother and father allege Dixon “negligently and carelessly drove” the Cybertruck, shedding management of the automotive, which induced it to catch on hearth.

PIEDMONT, Calif. – A grieving household on Wednesday filed a wrongful demise lawsuit stemming from a deadly Cybertruck crash in Piedmont the place three faculty college students died on the day earlier than Thanksgiving.

Carl and Noelle Tsukahara, the mother and father of 19-year-old Krysta Tsukahara, are suing the property of Soren Dixon who was the 19-year-old driver of the Cybertruck. Additionally named as a defendant is Charles Patterson, the proprietor of the automobile within the November crash. Patterson is a relative of Dixon.

There are additionally unnamed defendants listed as “DOES 1 via 20” which the Plaintiffs say might be amended, if proof emerges of both people or company entities that performed a job within the crash.

Post-mortem stories present that Dixon had alcohol, cocaine, and meth in his system. Tsukahara and Nelson additionally examined constructive for alcohol and cocaine.

The Tsukahara household says they filed the lawsuit to acquire extra particulars about what occurred earlier than 3 a.m. on Nov. 27, 2024, when Dixon drove his relative’s Cybertruck and crashed with three different pals, together with Carl and Noelle’s daughter, Krysta, Jack Nelson, 20, and Jordan Miller, 20 inside.

“The household nonetheless doesn’t know what the course of occasions have been that night that led to this crash and why this automobile caught hearth. The household desires and deserves solutions to these questions,” the Tsukuhara household’s assertion stated.

The household is searching for entry to the Cybertruck itself, which is presently with the California Freeway Patrol, the household’s lawyer, Roger Dreyer, advised KTVU.

KTVU reached out to Patterson by cellphone, however was advised he had no remark.

The backstory

Police stated that Dixon was dashing, although the precise pace hasn’t been made public, and that he crashed right into a tree at Hampton Street and King Avenue in Piedmont..

Upon affect, the Tesla Cybertruck grew to become engulfed in hearth, and Dixon, Tsukahara and Nelson died.

Miller was the one one to outlive – he was pulled out by a friend who broke the windows of the vehicle and dragged him to safety.

Neighborhood members say that Miller has since returned to the College of Wisconsin, the place he’s a enterprise pupil.

Particulars of the lawsuit

Dig deeper

Within the lawsuit filed Wednesday, the mother and father allege Dixon “negligently and carelessly drove” the Cybertruck, shedding management of the automotive, which induced it to catch on hearth.

“This hearth that began after the collision resulted within the demise of Decedent Krysta Michelle Tsukahara, who was trapped within the topic automobile,” the lawsuit stated.

The mother and father allege Patterson negligently entrusted Dixon with the Cybertruck “in such a trend as to trigger and/or contribute to the prevalence of the incident.”

The mother and father stated Wednesday, via a press release from a consultant, that Krysta was not bodily injured within the crash, however trapped within the Cybertruck after it caught hearth.

“Krysta was seated within the rear passenger seat of the automobile when it crashed right into a tree and caught hearth. She was not bodily injured within the affect, however was tragically trapped contained in the automobile because it burned, unable to flee,” Kellie DeMarco, a consultant for the household, stated.

Click to open this PDF in a new window.

The mother and father say they’ve suffered each financial and non-economic damages, together with the lack of their daughter’s “love, companionship, consolation, care, help, safety, affection, society, and ethical assist.”

The Tsukahara household is claiming damages for the medical bills they incurred from the care Krysta acquired previous to her demise, along with damages to her private property. They’re additionally asking for financial damages to cowl funeral and burial prices, together with the price of their authorized motion.

“Krysta was an exquisite, brilliant younger girl along with her entire life forward of her,” her father, Carl, stated in a press release. “We’ve needed to endure not solely the lack of our daughter, and our son the lack of his sister, however we’ve got needed to endure via the silence of those that have been along with her that evening and the way it’s that somebody might be on this automobile within the situation that he was in relative to his alcohol and drug use. Our household is in search of extra info concerning all facets of this tragedy.”

Dreyer, the household’s lawyer, reiterated that Krysta’s mother and father are searching for solutions to study who’s accountable for the Cybertruck crash.

“Our purchasers don’t wish to speculate as to who’s guilty,” Dreyer stated. “They need solutions and extra info with a view to see who’s accountable for this tragedy and who performed a job of their daughter’s demise.”

The lawsuit doesn’t title Tesla as a defendant.

KTVU has reached out to the opposite households concerned within the crash previously, and so they have requested for his or her privateness.

No different household has filed a lawsuit at this level.

The Supply

Alameda County Superior Courtroom paperwork, earlier reporting and the crash and interview with the household’s lawyer and consultant.