Agoura Resident Wins $15 Million Lawsuit

Callie Houck, a resident of Agoura Hills, and her ex-husband Chuck, won a $15 million judgment against the Enterprise Rent-A-Car corporation for the death of their two children in a 2004 car crash.

Raechel, 24, and Jacqueline, 20, were killed in a collision on Highway 101.

The judgment was rendered by the Alameda County Superior Court after the company admitted “their negligence was the sole proximate cause of the fatal injuries” to the two sisters, according to a document signed by Enterprise attorneys.

Enterprise admitted that the 2004 PT Cruiser rented to the sisters had been recalled by Daimler Chrystler because of a potentially dangerous power steering hose which could leak and cause a fire.

Enterprise did not repair the leak and rented the same car to three previous customers before renting it to the Houck sisters.

They were heading to Santa Cruz, driving northbound on the 101 Freeway outside of King City on Oct. 7, 2004, when the PT Cruiser apparently caught fire. Smoke could be seen under the hood as the car swerved over the grass median and into oncoming traffic, smashing head-on into an 18-wheel truck, the driver of the big rig later testified.
The sisters died at the scene.