Local News in Brief : Man Commits Suicide in U-Turn on Freeway

A driver, who had a passenger in his car, committed suicide Friday by making a U-turn into oncoming traffic on the Golden State Freeway, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

Five other motorists were slightly injured in the crash about 1 a.m. in the northbound lanes of the freeway 2 miles north of Lake Hughes Road in Castaic, Deputy Roxanna Schuchman said.

“What was first thought to be a traffic accident is now being called a suicide,” Schuchman said.

She said the driver was identified as Alvin Ledbetter, 21, of Camarillo. She said investigators had determined no motive for the suicide. An investigation is continuing.

Schuchman said Ledbetter had been driving north on the freeway with Michael White, 29, of Camarillo, before suddenly turning around the 1983 Toyota.

White told authorities that Ledbetter turned to him and said “Are you ready?” Schuchman said. Ledbetter made a U-turn, driving south in a northbound lane, heading straight for a van, Schuchman said.

The driver of the van, Noemy Valencia, 22, of Los Angeles, swerved, but the vehicles still struck each other, Schuchman said. The driver’s side of Ledbetter’s car was crushed, she said.

White, Valencia and her three passengers, whose names were not released, were treated for minor injuries and released at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia, officials said.