Community Corner

Family of Nikki Catsouras Settles With CHP Over Grisly Photos

A family's nightmare gains some measure of closure as it settles with the California Highway Patrol over leaked photos of their daughter's gruesome crash, but removing photos from the Internet could be difficult.

The 2006 automobile crash on the 241 toll road that killed Nicole "Nikki" Catsouras was traumatic enough for the family of the 18-year-old.

But when of the gruesome crash scene—and the photos were then posted on thousands of websites—it went from bad to worse. 

On Friday, the family of Nikki, commonly referred to on the Internet as "Porsche Girl," reached a $2.375 million settlement with the CHP for its role in releasing the photos that were taken by investigators.

Find out what's happening in Rancho Santa Margaritawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

It brings a legal end to the fight between parents Christos and Lesli Catsouras with the CHP, and prevents the two sides from going to a jury trial. 

On Dec. 31, 2006, Nikki had taken her father's Porsche without his knowledge and traveled more than 100 mph before she clipped another car and was nearly decapitated while crashing into a toll booth in Lake Forest.

Find out what's happening in Rancho Santa Margaritawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

At the time of Nikki's death, her family was protected by authorities from seeing the unrecognizable body. The Catsourases, who live in Ladera Ranch, avoid the Internet so that they don't come across the gruesome photos which were taken by the CHP.

But that hasn't prevented thousands of others from viewing the pictures in an invasion of privacy case against the CHP. Although the case had been thrown out earlier in the lower court, the 4th District Court of Appeal overturned the decision in 2010 and ruled that surviving family members can sue for invasion of privacy in cases such as this.

Although their plight has changed the law, it hasn't prevented the Catsouras family from getting the photos of their disfigured daughter off the Internet, which is what Christos ultimately wants to do. As part of the settlement, the CHP will assist the family in attempting to remove the photos from the Internet.

There is a complete story in the Los Angeles Times.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here