Local News in Brief : 2 Dead in Crash Were From Sherman Oaks
Police have identified two people killed in a Canoga Park traffic accident Wednesday night as James Pastorella, 24, and Barbara Stadler, 43, both of Sherman Oaks.
Pastorella was northbound on Canoga Avenue on a motorcycle at about 9 p.m. and broadsided a southbound car turning left from Canoga Avenue onto Ingomar Street, said Los Angeles Police Officer Rodney Manning. Witnesses told police that Pastorella was driving erratically and speeding through traffic at about 100 m.p.h., Manning said.
The car that Pastorella hit was driven by Barbara Stadler’s husband, Richard Stadler, 43, also of Sherman Oaks, who was in serious condition at Northridge Hospital Medical Center with internal injuries, broken ribs and facial cuts, Manning said.
Manning said a bus driver who had seen Pastorella weaving through traffic had warned him to drive carefully. The bus driver told police that Pastorella laughed off the warning and “pulled a wheelie,” Manning said.
Both the car and motorcycle overturned in the crash.
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