A Santa Maria Superior Court judge declined to stop a $1 million settlement for the mother of a man run over by a police transport van after he drove drunk, crashed his vehicle and was ejected onto Highway 101 in 2022.

Last month, Judge Jed Beebe denied the city of Santa Maria’s motion contesting the settlement between Florida resident Julia Becerra and a Solvang restaurant and its owner. In that ruling, the judge approved the deal as “a good faith settlement.”

The lawsuit filed in February 2023 stems from the death of her son Vincent Bruce Becerra, 20, of Lompoc, on March 18, 2022, in a single-vehicle crash near the intersection of northbound Highway 101and Palmer Road, between Orcutt and Los Alamos. 

For the city of Santa Maria, the original defendant in the lawsuit, the dispute centers on liability — who bears responsibility and how much for the death of Vincent Becerra. 

After crashing his vehicle and being ejected, Vincent Becerra ended up lying in a Highway 101 lane. That’s where a Santa Maria Police Department transport van driven by Officer Eduardo Servin ran over the 20-year-old, “crushing his head and killing him instantly,” court documents claim.

Julie Becerra’s attorney, Arthur M. Petrousian from Morgan & Morgan Los  Angeles LLP, later submitted an amended complaint adding other defendants — Adiamo Solvang Inc. (doing business as Cecco Ristorante) and owner David Eugene Cecchini. 

The lawsuit’s claims include negligence, negligent hiring, supervision and retention, vicarious liability for public entity and wrongful death. 

Vincent Becerra had worked a shift at Cecco where a bartender served the 20-year-old beer and shots of hard liquor, the court documents claim. The bartender also left the restaurant to purchase hard liquor from a store for the under-age employee, according to the complaint.

“Plaintiffs are informed and believe and thereupon allege that Cecco Ristorante management ratified and permitted on the job drinking as a way to build camaraderie among the staff which created a more dedicated workforce that provided a benefit to Cecco Ristorante’s business,” Julia Becerra’s attorney wrote.

The complaint also claims the restaurant’s management “turned a blind eye” to employees drinking while working.

But the city contended Vincent Becerra had a blood alcohol content of 0.19%, more than twice the legal limit for driving a vehicle, although Becerra’s was below the legal drinking age. Toxicology tests also noted marijuana in his system.

The city also contended the investigation determined Vincent Becerra was driving more than 100 mph and texting his girlfriend when he lost control of the car. He was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from his vehicle in the crash.

While Julia Becerra’s attorney labeled Officer Eduardo Servin the first responding officer, in reality he happened upon the scene while driving the prisoner transport van. Upon seeing the debris field, he slowed and stopped in the roadway, checking the crashed vehicle in the center divider for possible victims. 

Julia Becerra’s attorney argued the officer should have known people can be ejected from a rollover crash.

A physician who had stopped to assist joined the expanded search and they located Vincent Becerra under the front portion of the van. The doctor determined Vincent Becerra had died.

The Coroner’s Bureau concluded that Vincent Becerra was “likely already deceased due to being ejected from his vehicle” before the officer arrived, according to the documents filed on behalf of the city.

The initial lawsuit filed in February 2023 only listed the city of Santa Maria and Servin as defendants. In March 2024 the first amended complaint added the 20-year-old’s employer and the restaurant owner as defendants.

In October, the restaurant’s attorneys notified the court they had reached a settlement with Julia Becerra for the $1 million limit under a liability policy. 

“Defendants have denied any wrongdoing. Nonetheless, to mitigate any potential exposure and avoid further expensive litigation, Defendants agreed to settle this action with Plaintiff,” attorney Edward Ward Jr. of Lewis, Brisbois, Bisgaard & Smith LLP wrote in asking the judge to determine the settlement had been reached in good faith. 

The plaintiff’s original tort claim filed with the city sought $10 million, but the city’s attorneys filed a motion contesting the settlement, calling it premature. 

“Not a single deposition has been taken, and the Restaurant Defendants have acknowledged in the minimal discovery completed to date that they have no idea what happened at the restaurant on the night of the accident, because neither an owner nor a manager was present,” argued the city’s hired attorney, Steven Dippell of the San Jose-based firm of Davis, Bengtson & Young.

That meant they can’t determine a reasonable range for the restaurant’s and owner’s share of the $10 million sought by the plaintiff, the city argued. The city failed to convince the judge to reject the settlement. 

City Attorney Thomas Watson declined to comment on the judge’s decision to accept the settlement. 

A case management conference for the lawsuit involving the plaintiff, city and police officer, the lone defendants after the settlement, will take place Jan. 22.