Man Drives Self and Girlfriend’s Kids Off Cliff

Some things you just can’t make up. A 41-year-old man can expect to be arrested when he gets released from hospital following a crash in which he tried to drive himself and his girlfriend’s two sons down a 65-foot embankment.

Rolando Maldonado told police that the accident was just that – an accident. But the police suspected a different version of events. The man had apparently just had a fight with his girlfriend in which she threatened to leave him. Things cooled off a moment later, and he announced he was going out to the store and the boys wanted to accompany him. The mother did not have anything to suspect. But when there was no sign of Maldonado and her boys after a while, she became nervous and called him to ask when he was coming home. Upon this, the man apparently told her he wasn’t coming back, and neither were the boys.

Maldonado has presumably seen too many movies. After his conversation with the girlfriend, he went right ahead and drove his Ford Explorer off a cliff on Santiago Canyon Road in Silverado, California. Luckily the two boys – one 7 years old and the other barely 20 months old – were not seriously injured.

After the crash, Maldonado climbed out on the road and flagged down a vehicle for help. He claimed that he had pulled his Explorer over, and then when the vehicle got overheated, it slipped into gear and toppled off the cliff.

The police have found holes in his story. There is a guardrail that exists between the road and the depths. It would have been hard for this to have been an accident. From the girlfriend’s account of the conversation she had with the man a few minutes before he committed the cowardly act, it was Maldonado’s intention to kill or hurt the boys, and to kill himself.

There are no words to describe Maldonado. That he wanted to kill himself was clear. But to use kids in some sort of sick revenge game is beyond pathetic. The boys have been reunited with their mother, and Maldonado is being treated for his injuries.

We hope the children’s mother considers a civil lawsuit against him for compensation for her kids’ injuries, and their emotional trauma. She can expect heavy medical bills for the treatment, and why should she be the one to pay for his love of drama? With a settlement dangling over his head, Maldonando will think twice before he plays jilted lover again.

If you have been injured in an auto accident, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury attorney. Contact a lawyer at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.