Negligence suits filed in Metrolink crash

The mother of a Simi Valley man who was killed in a September train crash in Chatsworth and four people who were injured in the crash filed a negligence lawsuit Tuesday against the company that employed the Metrolink engineer.

Patricia Hammersley, the mother of victim Michael Hammersley; John Freel of Camarillo; Phillip Thiele and Frank Kohler of Simi Valley; and Eric Welling of Moorpark, filed separate lawsuits seeking “recovery of compensation for personal property damage and personal injuries” resulting from the crash of a Metrolink train with a southbound Union Pacific freight train.

The lawsuits were filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court and list Veolia Transportation Services Inc., Connex Railroad and the estate of Robert M. Sanchez, the engineer who was also killed in the crash, as defendants.

Two other lawsuits were filed against the regional rail authority that operates Metrolink, several contractors and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, according to the Associated Press.

Twenty-five people died and 135 were injured in the Sept. 12 crash.

-- Ari B. Bloomekatz