Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP has filed a civil lawsuit for negligence against Caitlyn Jenner on behalf of Peter Wolf-Millesi, his wife Lea, the couple’s two minor children, and Lea’s mother Elga Maurer for injuries suffered in a chain-reaction, four-vehicle collision that occurred in Malibu earlier this year. The plaintiffs were hit head-on by a Lexus that had been struck by Jenner’s SUV and forced into their lane of traffic. The driver of the Lexus, 69-year-old Kim Howe, was killed in the collision.
On February 7, 2015, Peter Wolf-Millesi was driving a Hummer H2 southbound on Pacific Coast Highway on the way to his eldest son’s tennis tournament. His wife Lea was seated beside him in the passenger seat, while his two sons and mother-in-law rode in the backseat. At the same time, Caitlyn Jenner, driving a Cadillac Escalade and towing a trailer with an all-terrain vehicle on it, was traveling northbound when she rear-ended a Lexus LS 430 driven by Howe. The Lexus was launched into oncoming traffic and collided head-on with the Wolf-Millesi’s vehicle. Jenner’s SUV continued forward, rear-ending a Toyota Prius driven by Jessica Steindorff before coming to a stop.
Ms. Howe died at the scene following the collision.
“All of a sudden a car comes into our lane from oncoming traffic and rushes onto our hood. We were shocked and terrified we were all going to die,” says Peter, recalling the crash. “When you’re involved in an accident that claimed the life of someone, you’re just not the same anymore. So many lives have been changed forever,” adds Lea.
The family continues to deal with not only the emotional trauma brought on by this incident, but the physical injuries as well.
Peter Wolf-Millesi, a multi-Grammy-nominated, world-renowned composer, pianist, producer, songwriter and arranger suffered nerve damage to both hands and wrists as a result of the blunt force frontal impact of gripping the steering wheel and has been unable to work. His wife Lea, a fashion model and lyricist, suffered orthopedic trauma to both legs, knees, neck and back and continues to have ongoing pain and physical limitations.
Gaetano, the couple’s infant son who was four weeks old at the time of the collision, did not respond to stimuli at the scene and was transported by ambulance to UCLA’s emergency room for treatment. Thankfully, both he and his older brother Nino, do not appear to have any ongoing injuries.
Lea’s mother, Elga, suffered a C-spine “hangman’s fracture” in her neck. She is permanently disabled and has ongoing chronic pain and physical limitations.
Following an extensive investigation by the California Highway Patrol, it was determined that Jenner was driving at an unsafe speed for the road conditions and was unable to stop the SUV in time to avoid the collision, therefore making Jenner at fault for the accident.
“The negligent actions of Jenner on the date of the incident not only killed a woman but caused severe injuries and emotional trauma to the Wolf-Millesi family,” says attorney Spencer Lucas. “Jenner recklessly failed to slow her vehicle, crashed into Ms. Howe and pushed her into a head-on collision with the Wolf-Millesi family traveling in the opposite direction. This tragic and preventable collision has devastated the lives of the victims while Jenner has refused to acknowledge any fault.”
Click here to read the complaint filed against Caitlyn Jenner