On Dec. 23, 2009, plaintiff Terry Fitch, 54, a boiler tech for the Ventura County Naval Base, was stopped in his 1997 Ford Ranger at a red light on Victoria Avenue in Oxnard, when he was struck by an AAA Propane Services truck, operated by Silas Carpenter. Subsequently, the AAA truck also collided with a vehicle operated by plaintiff Yasmin Galicia, 20, who was at the same intersection as Fitch. Prior to the accidents, one of AAA Propane’s officers/owners learned that Carpenter was not on his route and had, instead, stolen some propane tanks and money from a customer in the Oxnard area. As a result, AAA Propane’s officers/owners decided to call the police and report the truck stolen. Carpenter subsequently fled police after refusing to pull over and a police chase ensued, during which Carpenter struck Fitch and Galicia. Ultimately, Carpenter was surrounded by police in a highly populated McDonald’s parking lot in Oxnard and resisted arrest. Instead of exiting the truck, Carpenter attempted to drive the vehicle into the police cars, at which point the police opened fire and killed him. During the shootout, plaintiff Officer Kevin Gormley, 28, was injured. Fitch sued AAA Propane Services Inc. and the estate of Silas Carpenter. He alleged that Carpenter was negligent in the operation of the truck and that AAA Propane was vicariously liable for his actions. He also alleged that AAA Propane was directly liable for its negligent hiring of Carpenter and for negligently entrusting him with the vehicle. He also sought punitive damages. Galicia and Gormley also each brought identical lawsuits against the defendants, and all three matters were joined for trial. Plaintiffs’ counsel asserted that AAA Propane, which is in the business of delivering propane to residential and commercial businesses by way of commercial trucks, knew that Carpenter had a significant and well-documented history of crime, violence and mental illness, but that it hired ex-convicts on parole to drive the trucks to save some money because the state pays for the required drug testing. Specifically, plaintiffs’ counsel noted that Carpenter had 25 separate arrests, ranging from public intoxication to assault with a deadly weapon and battery. Counsel also noted Carpenter had also been convicted of numerous violent crimes, including slashing a cab driver’s face with a box cutter, punching and knocking out a manager of a Denny’s, and holding a standoff with the police which led to the SWAT team extricating and arresting him. Counsel further noted that in 2005, the Ventura Superior Court found Carpenter mentally incompetent to stand trial, and he was committed to Patton State Hospital and transferred to Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk. In addition, plaintiffs’ counsel noted that Carpenter was on anti-psychotic medications to treat what the Oxnard District Attorney’s office understood to be a bipolar disorder and that an officer of AAA Propane admitted that he never trusted Carpenter from the date of hire through the date of his death. Thus, plaintiffs’ counsel asserted that AAA Propane acted with conscious disregard for the safety and welfare of others by hiring the mentally unstable and dangerous man to drive around a highly flammable propane truck. Defense counsel contended that Carpenter was outside the course and scope of his employment with AAA Propane at the time of the accidents. Counsel noted that Carpenter arrived at the AAA Propane facilities in the morning, met with one of the owners/officers, took the keys to the truck he drives, and was expected to drive his route of pick-ups and deliveries in Valencia. However, counsel contended that AAA Propane only knew that Carpenter had stolen propane tanks and money from a customer, and was not on his route at the time of the accidents., Fitch claimed anxiety and chest pains immediately after the sideswipe collision. He subsequently went to an emergency room and, several days later, went to his primary care physician. Seven days after the accident, Fitch claimed that he was barbecuing at his home when he felt a back spasm and pain. He ultimately underwent a lumbar corpectomy at the L2 level and a lumbar fusion at the L1-2 and L2-3 levels on June 24, 2010. Following the surgery, Fitch missed over a year of work at a naval base. Thus, he sought recovery of damages for his medical expenses, loss of earnings, and pain and suffering. His wife, Sarah, presented a derivative claim, seeking recovery of damages for her loss of consortium. Galicia suffered some soft-tissue and claimed a mild traumatic brain injury, though no significant medical expenses had been incurred. Gormley claimed he sustained a right shoulder injury while running from Carpenter’s truck in the McDonald’s parking lot. He was subsequently out of work for six months, during which time he had arthroscopic shoulder surgery. He also required an additional surgery to repair a torn labrum, which had not yet taken place at the time the case settled. Gormley claimed a seven-figure loss of earnings potential because, under the Oxnard Police Department collective bargaining agreement, if an officer is out of work for a total of one year for an injury sustained on the job, the Oxnard Police Department could force retirement. Thus, Gormley claimed that the second surgery may cause him to be out of work for an aggregate of one year. His wife, Bella, also presented a derivative claim, seeking recovery of damages for her loss of consortium. Defense counsel contended that the subject incident did not cause any of Mr. Fitch’s back , noting that Mr. Fitch had a long history of back pain and had fractured his back 10 years prior. Counsel also noted that Mr. Fitch had made multiple workers’ compensation claims involving back prior to the Carpenter incident. As a result, defense counsel contended that Mr. Fitch’s back surgery on June 24, 2010, was not necessitated by the subject incident.