Family sues El Cajon police after 2024 motorcycle pursuit ends in fatal crash

The family of a woman killed in a motorcycle crash last year in connection with a police chase is suing El Cajon police, alleging negligence and wrongful death.

The suit from the family of Cara Hartley, who was a passenger on the motorcycle, was filed earlier this week in San Diego Superior Court.

El Cajon police and city officials did not respond to an email Friday seeking comment. Hartley’s attorney declined Friday to comment on the suit, which was brought on behalf of Hartley’s estate and her three children, whose ages were not listed in the suit

The crash happened late May 11, 2024. According to a news release at the time from El Cajon police, the incident started shortly before midnight when police tried to stop a black Harley-Davidson motorcycle for a suspected traffic violation on East Main Street near Greenfield Drive.

Police said there were two people on the motorcycle, and that the driver fled westbound on Main Street “at a high rate of speed.”

The motorcycle, police said, “pulled away from the pursuing officer” and crashed into the rear of a Toyota Tacoma and a Hyundai Sonata on East Main Street near North Second Avenue.

The man driving the motorcycle and the woman riding as his passenger died at the scene. Police did not release their names at the time of the crash, but said both had been 42 years old.

The newly filed suit identifies the passenger as Hartley and the driver as Frank Cavazos. The Union-Tribune confirmed their names with the Medical Examiner’s Office.

The lawsuit alleges that El Cajon police started the chase on eastbound Interstate 8 and did so without probable cause. It also claims the pursuit continued off the freeway at the Greenfield Drive exit, then onto East Main Street, and that police lost sight of the motorcycle but did not abandon the pursuit.

The suit alleges that Cavazos had previously evaded El Cajon police officers, and that they “harbored a personal animus against” Cavazos. It also says that police believed he was “involved in an organization” that the department harbored animus against, but does not name the organization.”

The lawsuit does not specify a dollar amount the family is seeking in damages.