Parents of Man Drowned While Diving Sue Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy

LOS ANGELES, CA — The parents of a 20-year-old Carson man who drowned while cave-diving in the Abalone Cove area sued the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy and other entities on Tuesday, alleging his death could have been prevented if he'd been made aware of the dangers of swimming there.

Tomas and Carmen Compean filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging wrongful death and premises liability and seeking unspecified damages. The suit also names as defendants the city of Rancho Palos Verdes, the Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority, the Abalone Safety Task Force, Los Angeles County and the state of California.

A representative for the conservancy did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Ricardo Compean died last July 30. According to his parents' court papers, there were no lifeguards and no signs warning of the perils of swimming in the cove.

"Had (Compean) known of the dangerous whirlpool effect tide condition in the water, he would not have gone in or near the water," the suit says.

About a year earlier, 18-year-old Joseph Sanchez drowned in the approximate same area as Compean, yet the defendants to date have posted no signs notifying visitors of the whirlpools in the waters, according to the lawsuit.

— City News Service, photo via Shutterstock