Website Cited in Claim Against Chatsworth Travel Firm

Brendan Vacations Inc. made misrepresentations on its website that played a role in the killing of a Redondo Beach woman's unborn baby in an encounter with bandits during a trip with her husband and their friends to Africa, an attorney told a jury Thursday.

Addressing a Los Angeles Superior Court panel hearing opening statements
in the negligence suit by Rg and Jacqueline Lutz against the Chatsworth-based company, attorney Gayle Blatt said her clients believed the tour directors, guides and drivers on the trip were employed by Brendan and were properly trained to protect tourists.   Only later did they learn that Brendan deals with a series of third parties who actually planned the tours and employed the various individuals, Blatt said.

Defense attorney Jerri Johnson said Brendan has had a stellar record during more than four decades in the travel business.

Johnson said the couple's tour package was purchased through Vacations To Go, an Internet travel agency.

Johnson said Brendan was generous to the Lutz couple after the tragedy, refunding their money and paying for their flight home. She also said the people actually responsible for Jacqueline Lutz's injuries are not part of the couple's case.

The Lutzes brought their lawsuit in March 2009. The other plaintiff is their friend, Raymond Mollica of Floral Park, N.Y. He was accompanied by his then-fiancee, Celia Vergel DeDios, who he later married.

According to Blatt, two nature walk guides, Herman Kiriama and Charles Safari, were with the Lutz couple, Mollica and DeDios when two bandits confronted their group during the walk at Lake Duluti, near Arusha, Tanzania, that was part of their ``Splendor in the Serengeti'' tour in March 2007.

``Money, money, give me money,'' one of the assailants, armed with a machete, told the group, according to Blatt.

She blamed Kiriama for agitating the bandits by trying to disarm the bandit holding the machete.

``That's when the shooting started,'' Blatt said.

Jacqueline Lutz, who was four months pregnant, was struck in the stomach and the bullet killed her unborn child. Mollica was wounded in the left leg. Safari, a guide in training, was shot in the head and died.

After years of struggling to get pregnant again, Jacqueline Lutz had a
bone fragment removed from her uterus, allowing her to give birth to a daughter
in January, Blatt said.

Gary Murphy, Brendan's former chief executive officer, testified that the company's website at the time of the plaintiffs' trip was not misleading. He said the Brendan website statement, ``In essence, our tour directors, drivers and guides are Brendan'' represented the trustworthy relationships Brendan had built over the years with ground tour operators and others with whom the company contracted to ensure safe trips by its customers.

``We know they go out and employ the best guides available,'' Murphy said.

-- Bill Hetherman, City News Service