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Transit agency Metrolink has agreed to "pay $39 million to settle nearly all of the lawsuits filed" as a result of the 2005 derailment caused by Juan Manuel Alvarez, according to abc7. "According to an attorney representing the crash victims, all but one of the 186 wrongful death and injury suits against Metrolink has been resolved. A Los Angeles superior court judge has vacated a Jan. 4 trial date and is urging both parties to resolve the remaining suit."
The deadly crash happened when Alvarez, then 25, parked his SUV on the Metrolink tracks on January 26, 2005, in Glendale in a suicide attempt. Alvarez then changed his mind and fled, leaving the vehicle on the tracks, which instigated a derailment that killed 11 and left 180 people injured.
The Alvarez case became a high-profile trial; Alvarez was found guilty in spring 2008 and sentenced to 11 consecutive life sentences.
