Weintraub’s Son Killed as His Car Hits Utility Pole

The 17-year-old son of Los Angeles school board member Roberta Weintraub died of injuries suffered Friday night after his car hit a utility pole in the Sepulveda Pass, police said.

Michael Allen Weintraub, a high school junior, died at the scene of the 8:45 p.m. accident on Sepulveda Boulevard near Mountaingate Drive, Los Angeles Police Sgt. Thomas Stead said.

Two passengers, Jeffery Roberts, 17, of Sherman Oaks and Gabriel Noble, 16, of Van Nuys suffered serious injuries and were transported to UCLA Medical Center for treatment. Roberts, who was flown to the hospital, sustained internal injuries and fractures and was in critical condition Saturday after surgery, a hospital spokesman said. Noble, who suffered internal injuries, was in stable condition.

Car Crossed the Median

Weintraub was headed south on Sepulveda in a 1982 Camaro when the car crossed the median and hit a utility pole, said Sgt. Robert Chrisco. The crash started a fire that burned 400 square feet of brush.

Sgt. Duane Schrader said Weintraub was driving at a high rate of speed. Officers also found bottles of beer in the car, Schrader said. The cause of the crash is under investigation, police said.

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office determined that Weintraub died from multiple traumatic injuries.

Weintraub was a member of his high school’s baseball team, a vegetable gardener and a lover of the outdoors, said Sandy Miller, a family friend. Weintraub had planned to visit a rain forest in Costa Rica over the holidays.

The family declined to identify the high school Weintraub attended.

His father, Lewis Weintraub, is a physician. His mother, who is in her second term representing the East San Fernando Valley on the school board, was a leader of the anti-busing movement in the San Fernando Valley in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. today at Tanach Chapel at Mount Sinai Memorial Park.