Lane Garrison Sued Over Fatal DUI Crash

Wed., Dec. 10, 2008 3:55 PM PST by Natalie Finn

Nick Ut/AP Photo

One way or another, Lane Garrison is going to be paying for his mistakes for a long time.

The parents of a 17-year-old boy who was killed in the actor's 2006 DUI crash has sued Garrison for wrongful death and gross negligence. (View the lawsuit.)

Karen Setian and Inaida Nalbandian contend that Garrison, who was sentenced to 40 months in prison last October after pleading guilty to felony vehicular manslaughter, "carried on with a conscious and willful disregard of the rights and safety of others" when he offered a ride to their son, Vahagn Setian, whom he had met earlier on the night of Dec. 2, 2006, at a party.

Per authorities, after consuming alcohol at the party, Garrison took the boy and two of his Beverly Hills High School classmates to a store to pick up more alcohol. On their way back to the party, the former Prison Break inmate ran a red light and lost control of his Land Rover while going 50 miles per hour in a 25 mph zone.

His blood-alcohol level later registered at 0.15 percent, nearly twice the legal limit of 0.08.

According to the suit filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Garrison's SUV—after jumping a median and a curb and ramming into a tree—came to rest on its passenger side, leading to the "blunt force trauma which resulted in [Vahagn's] death."

The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified reimbursement for medical care and treatment, burial and funeral experiences, attorney fees and any punitive damages the court may see fit to compensate the couple for the "loss of care, comfort and society of their minor son."

The Setian-Nalbandian complaint also included a request to let another minor who was riding with Garrison at the time, Michelle Ohana, combine her recently filed negligence suit with theirs. Ohana, who suffered injuries in the fatal crash, sued on Nov. 28.

Garrison, who has undergone substance-abuse treatment while behind bars, was transferred from Corcoran State Prison to the medium-security California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi in May.

He had been planning to enter a special treatment program at the Tehachapi facility, but the state-funded Department of Corrections service was shut down in the face of California-wide budget cuts earlier this year.