Families Of Teens Electrocuted In Canal To Get $14 Million From Water Agency

DIXON (CBS13) — The Solano Irrigation District agreed to pay $14 million to the families of two teens who were electrocuted while trying to rescue a dog in a Dixon canal earlier this year.

Jacob Hourmouzus and Jacob Schneider, both 17, were electrocuted on April 1 when they grabbed onto an electrified overhead bridge for support to get out of the canal. The Dixon High students were found lying unconscious near an orchard along Dixon Avenue West and were later pronounced dead at an area hospital.

READ: Getting Answers: Why Was The Bridge Electrified Where Two Teens Were Electrocuted?

On Friday, a settlement was reached between the Solano Irrigation District and the Schneider and Hourmouzus on Friday. The utility agreed to pay each family $7 million.

Attorney Robert Buccola, who represented the Schenider family, said the irrigation district "assured all parties that immediate and swift action was taken following the happening of this unthinkable tragedy to make certain that other electrical delivery systems with similar characteristics were free from the dangerous defects did not exist anywhere else."

Additionally, the Solano Irrigation District Board of Directors approved funding to updated the utility's entire infrastructure. The update to their infrastructure will include all electrical facilities and will occur over the next 10 years. That funding, Buccola said, will not affect rates for Solano Irrigation District customers.

Buccola said, "the Schneiders are pleased to have this settlement reached at this time as it is their intention to utilize settlement proceeds to help those in need and they hope to be able to target students graduating from Jake's high school class in the spring/summer of 2020. The very year and class that Jake would have graduated in, had he not been fatally injured."

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Daniel Wilcoxen represented the Hourmouzus family. He also issued a statement on Friday. "The payment of no amount of money will bring back these two wonderful young men.  However, it is hoped that this amount of money will get the attention of the Solano Irrigation District such that it will ensure that their promises to correct similar deficiencies in their systems are actually completed to prevent a future occurrence of this nature from ever happening again."