Local News in Brief : Unrelated Traffic Crashes Claim 5 Lives

Five traffic accidents in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys resulted in deaths Friday night and Saturday.

Rachell Cook, 20, of Encino died in Sepulveda at 4:25 a.m. Saturday when her Ford Mustang struck the back of a tractor-trailer parked on Roscoe Boulevard, police said.

Cook was killed instantly when the trailer sheared off the top of the car, Officer Jack Blacklock said.

Also on Saturday, Thomas Clements, 23, died at 9:30 a.m. of injuries he suffered when he rear-ended a large truck parked on Foothill Boulevard at Ararat Street in Sylmar, Blacklock said.

In Canyon Country, a single-car accident on the Antelope Valley Freeway early Saturday morning claimed the life of a passenger.

Danny Lee Johnson, 22, of Canyon Country, was killed when the car he was riding in rolled down a 60-foot embankment, ejecting him through an open window.

The driver, George T. Sanchez, 22, of Quartz Hill was southbound on the freeway and near Via Princessa at 3:15 a.m. when he lost control of the car, said Officer Monty Keifer of the California Highway Patrol.

Johnson was not wearing a seat belt, Keifer said. Sanchez, who was, suffered minor to moderate injuries. He was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and felony drunk driving, authorities said.

A 19-year-old Van Nuys man was killed Saturday evening when the motorcycle he was riding was hit by a car in Lakeview Terrace, Los Angeles police reported.

The man, whose name was being withheld pending notification of his family, was traveling west on Foothill Boulevard about 6:35 p.m. when a car turned from Orcas Avenue onto Foothill, colliding with the motorcycle, Sgt. Dennis Zine said.

The man, who was not wearing a helmet, was pronounced dead at the scene. The motorist was not held, Zine said.

In Van Nuys, Katherine Singleton, 68, died of a heart attack Friday night after she witnessed an accident in which a car smashed into a parked vehicle and then into her apartment building in the 15000 block of Vanowen Street, Blacklock said.

The driver, Joel Carrillo, 22, of Panorama City, suffered minor injuries. He was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, Blacklock said.