CAMARILLO : Drunk Driver Must Pay Victim’s Family

A judge has awarded $1.4 million to the family of a Camarillo man who was killed by a drunk driver in 1986.

Superior Court Judge John J. Hunter ruled that Dexter Douglas Sells, 64, of Camarillo must pay damages to the family of Gustavo E. Franco, a 31-year-old Oxnard barber who was killed when bicycling on a country road.

Sells’ car struck Franco from behind on Sept. 8, 1986, throwing the bicyclist from Sturgis Road into a field, said Franco’s wife, Rebecca.

Franco, who was not wearing a helmet, died of head injuries, Rebecca Franco said. The judge ruled that Franco was not negligent, she said.

The accident occurred near Del Norte and Sturgis roads, close to a railroad crossing, said Tom Beach, a lawyer representing the railroad.

Oxnard and Southern Pacific railroad also have agreed to pay damages to the Franco family. Last month, Oxnard settled out of court for $40,000 and the railroad agreed to pay an annuity for Rebecca Franco and her children.

Rebecca Franco contended in her lawsuit that her husband was pedaling in the middle of Sturgis Road because the right side of the road was bumpy, Beach said.

Sells had been drinking while working at his job as a backhoe operator. After the accident, the California Highway Patrol found a bottle of vodka in his pickup, Sells’ attorney, Roger Borell, said.

Sells was convicted of vehicular manslaughter and drunk driving on March 31, 1987, sentenced to a year on work release and placed on probation for five years, according to court records.

Sells’ wife, Janis, said the judgment was devastating. She said she and her husband were heavily in debt from hospital bills because she is blind, diabetic and suffering from heart and liver trouble.