Last Updated on January 12, 2023 by CCAR Staff
The mother and widow of a newlywed who was killed in a collision with a fire truck in Agoura Hills while driving to a wedding rehearsal dinner for his brother are suing Los Angeles County and the truck’s driver.
Eric Stein, 36, and his wife Ksenia Rozen, both of San Clemente, were en route to the event when their car was hit by the truck while Stein was making a left turn along Mulholland Highway about 5 p.m. on July 31, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Stein was scheduled to be best man at his brother’s wedding.
The lawsuit filed Friday on behalf of Rozen and Stein’s mother, Karen Kirn, in Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit names as defendants Los Angeles County and Michael Aplanalp, who was driving the fire truck.
A spokesman for the county did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit, which alleges wrongful death and negligence and seeks unspecified damages.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department issued a statement after the accident that said the department was “deeply saddened by the tragic death of Eric Stein. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time.”
The suit alleges the truck was being driven too fast and that Aplanalp was “unsafely passing on the left on a two-lane highway” before colliding with the couple’s car.
Rozen witnessed the death of her husband and continues to suffer from emotional distress, according to the complaint.
Stein and Rozen married six months before the accident after dating for eight years, according to previous news accounts.
The fire truck was carrying 13 female inmates from Fire Camp 13 in Malibu, authorities said at the time.
