Public Safety · Tacoma, WA
Pierce County Jury Awards $10.7M to Families of 6 Killed in 2023 Tacoma Crash
A Pierce County, Washington jury on Thursday Oct. 29 awarded $10.675 million in damages against two drivers and a survivor of a July 16, 2023 collision at the intersection of State Route 509 and Alexander Avenue on Tacoma's Tideflats that killed six Arizona residents. Jurors found BMW driver Vitaliy Papirnik 40 percent at fault for traveling 80 mph in a 50 mph zone, Kia driver Lisa Esparza 20 percent at fault for running the red light, Anthony Pena 20 percent at fault for allowing Esparza to drive a rental car she was too young to operate, and Irina Papirnik and her company Rapid Motors LLC each 10 percent at fault. The jury rejected plaintiffs' claims that the city of Tacoma and WSDOT were negligent in failing to repair a damaged signal cable at the intersection, a problem documented since at least 2009. The seven-week trial concluded before Pierce County Superior Court Judge Clarence Henderson Jr.