Stacy Moore, Hi-Desert Star
It is a family’s worst nightmare to hear that a loved one has perished in a car accident. But that nightmare turns into anger when it is revealed that the person who killed their loved one was a sheriff’s deputy who was traveling at 101 mph responding to a non-emergency call.
Now, one Vietnamese family is getting a measure of justice by settling a lawsuit against the San Bernadino County, the Sheriff’s Department and the city of Twentynine Palms for the wrongful death of Luc Van Bui. The sum amounts to $3.75 million.
Luc Van Bui, 64, lost his life when Sheriff’s deputy Erdem Gorgulu’s car clammed into his camry at 101 mph. (JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images)
Bui and his family were visiting friends in Twentynine Palms in late April in 2013. Bui, 64, had just left the Burger King and was driving across Twentynine Palms Highway, on April 30, 2013 when Deputy Erdem Gorgulu’s eastbound patrol car crashed into Bui’s Toyota Camry. Bui died at the scene and his family sued Gorgulu and his employers, San Bernardino County, the Sheriff’s Department and the city of Twentynine Palms, which has a contract with the county for sheriff’s services.
The family’s complaint states that Gorgulu was driving above the speed limit without headlights, running lights or emergency lights or any siren activated. In depositions, Gogulu agreed his patrol car left no skid marks, indicating he never tried to slow or avoid Bui’s car before the crash.
Bui was born in 1949 in Vietnam, and as a teenager was an English interpreter for the Vietnamese army. He came to America as a “boat person” and had five children with his wife, Dien Thi Hoang. His family said he was a very careful driver and mourned his loss.
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