The family of a woman found dead inside her vehicle, which was towed to a San Diego impound lot after she was injured in a crash, filed a lawsuit this week against the city of San Diego and its Police Department, among others.
Monica Liliana Cameroni de Adams’ parked van was struck on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard by an intoxicated driver just after 1 a.m. Nov. 5, 2023, but it wasn’t until more than a month later, on Dec. 6, when her decomposing body was discovered at the tow yard.
The complaint filed in San Diego Superior Court alleges Cameroni de Adams, 65, had “severe, but survivable” injuries, but responding police officers and towing employees did not look inside her van and instead had it taken to the tow yard, leaving her “trapped and entombed inside her vehicle.”
Her family filed a missing persons report soon after she didn’t respond to birthday wishes they sent her Nov. 13, according to the lawsuit.
In a claim her family filed with the city last month — generally a precursor to a lawsuit — a worker at the tow yard noticed a smell coming from the minivan and contacted the police.
Cameroni de Adams was found “under miscellaneous items in the vehicle’s middle row,” according to the medical examiner’s report.
The cause of death was ruled to be multiple blunt-force injuries — she was found with rib fractures and a spine fracture — and the medical examiner ruled the manner of death an accident.
According to the lawsuit, it wasn’t until October 2024 that the family received the medical examiner’s report regarding Cameroni de Adams’ death and learned that police or tow employees “were involved in causing the death of Ms. Cameroni de Adams.”
The complaint alleges police and the tow employees were negligent in transporting her vehicle without examining the interior, and Lopez is accused of negligently driving his vehicle. The police are further accused of failing to properly train its employees and negligent hiring, supervision and retention.
The intoxicated driver, Jordan Maximilian Lopez, is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. He was criminally charged, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to probation with a suspended six-year prison sentence earlier this year.
Staff writer Christian Martinez contributed to this report.
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