Suicidal Driver Crashes, Dies

A driver committed suicide by making a U-turn on Interstate 5 near Castaic early today and crashing into a van, injuring five other people, authorities said.

Alvin Ledbetter, 21, of Camarillo was killed and his passenger, Michael White, 29, of Camarillo suffered moderate injuries, said Deputy Roxanna Schuchman, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. “According to White’s statement, Ledbetter turned to him and said, ‘Are you ready?’ and then suddenly made a U-turn and drove southbound in the northbound lane and headed straight for a van,” Schuchman said. Van driver Noemy Valencia, 22, of Los Angeles swerved and avoided a head-on collision, but the driver’s side of Ledbetter’s 1983 Toyota was crushed and he was killed. Valencia and her three passengers sustained minor injuries.