Grieving Parents Sue Couple Who Allegedly Provided Alcohol Before Fatal DUI

GLENDORA, CA — The grief does not end for David Alonso and Veronica Espinosa-Alonso. Their 18-year-old son, was fatally injured when he fell from the side of a Jeep in the Angeles National Forest.

On Tuesday, the Alonso's sued a man and his wife, alleging that the couple furnished alcohol to their son and other underage guests at a graduation party at their home before the accident, and are to blame in their son's tragic death.

David Alonso and Veronica Espinoza-Alonso brought the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Michael and Brenda Fink of Rancho Cucamonga. The wrongful death suit also names Aaron Alexander Roos, the driver of the Jeep in which the plaintiffs' son, Jacob Mendez-Alonso, was riding, as a defendant.

Representatives for the defendants could not be immediately reached.

The accident took place about 12:35 a.m. May 21, 2016, three days before Mendez-Alonso was scheduled to graduate from Whitcomb Continuation High School in Glendora, according to the suit, which seeks unspecified damages.

Mendez-Alonso was drunk when he fell while standing on the Jeep's running board as Roos drove the vehicle up Glendora Mountain Road near Big Dalton Canyon Road, the suit states. He later died at Foothill Presbyterian Hospital in Glendora.

According to the complaint, high school students at the Fink home drank alcohol, including beer and vodka at the party and consumed a variety of drugs, among them marijuana, prescription drugs and nitrous oxide.

The Finks also failed to ensure the teens were provided safe transportation home after police broke up the party, the suit states.

Roos took nine students, some as young as 14 years old, with him in his Jeep Wrangler, which was meant to hold up to five people, the suit states. Roos picked up two more passengers along the way as the vehicle headed up the mountain road with Mendez-Alonso on the running board, according to the plaintiffs.

Roos was driving about 45 mph when he slowed down, causing Mendez-Alonso to fall off the side of the Jeep, according to the lawsuit.

"As a result, (Mendez-Alonso) was brutally run over by the (Jeep), suffering fatal injuries," the suit alleges.

City News Service contributed to this report.

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