405 Freeway In Westwood Is The Scene of A MultiCar Crash With A Fatality Lawsuit Filed Against Owner of Barrington Plaza Apartments

Filing Predated The Eviction Of Tenants By Invoking The Ellis Act

Early Morning Accident Caused Closure Of The Freeway For Several Hours

By Dolores Quintana

Around 4:00 a.m. on Monday morning, there was a serious multi-car crash on the 405 freeway near Sunset going southbound in Westwood, as reported by KTLA 5 Los Angeles. All southbound lanes were closed as a sig alert was issued. The one fatality involved a pedestrian on the freeway, but how or why the person was on the freeway is unclear. No further information is known about the pedestrian’s identity at this time. The CHP did not respond by press time to a request for comment.

According to the KTLA report, Sgt. Steve Esquivel of the California Highway Patrol said, “We don’t know exactly what led to the pedestrian walking … At some point, they either got out of a vehicle or they were [walking] on the 405 Freeway.” The CHP will investigate the crash in an effort to ascertain how the crash happened and why a pedestrian was on the freeway.

During the sig alert, vehicles coming through the Sepulveda pass into West Los Angeles were redirected off the freeway through the Skirball Center Drive exit. Three of the freeway lanes, the HOV, and 1st and 2nd lanes were reopened by 7:30 a.m. The CHP canceled the sig alert around 8:30 a.m. and reopened the balance of the freeway lanes at that time.

On May 8, the owner of Barrington Plaza invoked the Ellis Act and removed all of the apartments in the Barrington Plaza apartment complex from the market. This was done to comply with Los Angeles city regulations regarding fire sprinklers and to install fire sprinkler systems, as we reported earlier this week.

The news was made public that a tenant in the building, Sergei Maidaniuk, filed a lawsuit on May 1, 2023, as reported by The Real Deal.com.

The lawsuit is for breach of contract/warranty, not fraud or negligence, against Douglass Emmett, Inc., a Maryland Corporation, et al. and was filed at the Santa Monica Courthouse. Honorable Elaine W. Mande, a judge at the courthouse, will hear the case. According to court records, the first hearing is scheduled for October 30th.

According to The Real Deal, the lawsuit alleges, “Simply put, Barrington Plaza was a ticking time bomb and fatally unsafe.” and further makes the accusation that “Douglas Emmett’s permitting and enabling of Airbnb strangers into the Barrington Plaza property for short-term stays give rise to the dangerous potential of a different convicted felon or bad actor next door every night of the week.” Neither Maidaniuk’s attorney nor Emmitt’s representatives have answered requests for comment on the matter.