Crime

Party host let woman fall over cliff on ATV during nighttime bash, inflicting ‘excruciating death’ after failing to issue warnings and allowing drunk guest to drive: Suit

by Jackson
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Party host let woman fall over cliff on ATV during nighttime bash, inflicting 'excruciating death' after failing to issue warnings and allowing drunk guest to drive: Suit

Jonathan Spano, a 48-year-old stunt pilot who flew jets for Top Gun: Maverick (earning his team a SAG Award), settled a wrongful death lawsuit in February 2026 with the family of Tanya Hendry, 34, who drowned after an ATV plunged off a San Luis Obispo County cliff during his Burning Man-style beach party on December 20, 2020.

The Fatal Crash

  • Spano hosted the COVID-era event at Harmony Headlands beach (property tied to his firm, Harmony Bluffs LLC), with drugs (cocaine, ketamine, LSD, Adderall) and alcohol flowing.
  • Around 2-3 a.m., inexperienced driver Maria Arayza-Alvarez (intoxicated) piloted a rented Can-Am ATV carrying four, including Spano and Hendry.
  • It veered off the cliff; Arayza-Alvarez and others escaped, but Hendry drowned trapped in the submerged vehicle—pronounced dead at the scene.

Lawsuit Allegations

  • Filed in 2022, the suit accused Spano, Arayza-Alvarez, ATV renter Khaled Azar, and Harmony Bluffs of supplying substances, allowing reckless nighttime driving near the unguarded sheer drop, and failing safety measures.
  • Arayza-Alvarez pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter, served 4 months jail.

Settlement Details

  • Reached February 17, 2026 (jury selection day): Full $5M insurance payout from Scottsdale Insurance plus undisclosed personal payment from Spano—terms confidential.
  • Family attorney Nicholas Rowley called it accountability: “What defines us is how we respond to mistakes.”

Hendry, an artist-bartender, was mourned as community-hearted. This party-gone-wrong contrasts your recent shares of sudden violence—negligence over intent. What’s the theme emerging for you in these cases?

SOURCE

Jackson

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