Griswold -- The family of one of four teens killed in a December 2010 car crash on Route 201 has filed an intention for legal action against the town.

The notice, received by town clerk Ellen Dupont on Wednesday, was filed by Michael J. Quinn of the Waterford-based law firm Polito & Quinn LLC on behalf of claimants Gina Pelletier and Eugene Cornell, co-administrators of the estate of 16-year-old Sativa Cornell.

The document claims “negligence and carelessness” by the town of Griswold and its board of education resulted in the injuries and subsequent death of Sativa Cornell in a car crash that happened after school let out for the day. The suit claims the teens involved had cut class.

The single-car accident around 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 7, 2010, along Route 201 near Route 138 killed four of five Griswold High School students riding in the vehicle.

The car involved in the accident, a 2007 Nissan Altima, was registered to Pelletier.

Along with Cornell, John Clapper III, 16, of 23 Hillview Heights; Steven Szklarz, 15, of 786 Route 12, and Dillon Clifford, 16, of 8 Fairview Ave. were killed.

Joel Gallup, 16, of 31 Woodcrest Drive, was the lone survivor and continues to recuperate.

Police said John Clapper III was driving the vehicle before it struck two trees.

Cornell and Clapper were dating for nearly two years, according to Clapper's MySpace page.

According to DMV records, Clapper received a learner's permit Aug. 10. Cornell received her license Oct. 26. Neither had any driving violations.

Someone with a learner's permit is only allowed to have as passengers a parent, driving instructor or adult 20 years of older who has had a license for four consecutive years.

During the first six months of having a license, passengers, with the exception of certain qualified adults, are not allowed in the car, and for the second six months only one additional passenger is allowed in the car and that has to be an immediate family member.

The suit claims the town of Griswold “failed to determine … Sativa Cornell had left school without permission” on the day of the crash; permitted Clapper, an unlicensed driver, to drive on, and subsequently off, school property; and allowed the students to leave without permission despite the fact “one or more of the students were on a watch list for having done so” before.