Settlement Announced in 2010 Off-Road Crash That Killed Eight People

RIVERSIDE - A nearly $6 million settlement was announced today in lawsuits stemming from a 2010 off-road racing crash in the Mojave Desert that killed eight people, including a Riverside man.

The agreement was finalized during a mediation session Tuesday in Los Angeles federal court, according to attorney Katherine Harvey-Lee, who represented four of the nearly 40 plaintiffs.

She said the plaintiffs will receive $5.8 million in the settlement, which still must be approved by the Department of Justice. The federal Bureau of Land Management will pay $4.8 million, and race organizer and promoter Mojave Desert Racing Inc. will pay its insurance policy limit of $1 million, according to the attorney.

Lawsuits were filed in various state and federal jurisdiction and consolidated in Los Angeles federal court.

The victims, including 22-year-old Riverside resident Andrew Therrien, were killed by an out-of-control pickup truck driven by Brett Sloppy of San Marcos at the ''California 200'' race in the Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Open Area.

Also killed were Brian Wolfin, 27, Anthony Sanchez, 23, and Aaron Farkas, 25, all of Escondido; Michael Dickinson, 34, of Spring Valley; Danica Frantzich, 20, of Las Vegas; Zachary Freeman, 24, of Fillmore; and Dustin Malso, 24, of Ventura.

The crash at the San Bernardino desert dry lake bed occurred when Sloppy's truck went airborne and rolled, crushing spectators.