24 Injured in Pileup that Closed Golden State Freeway

A series of accidents in which 24 people were injured, 23 vehicles were damaged and the southbound Golden State Freeway near Castaic was closed for two hours Monday was touched off by the reckless driver of a stolen van, the California Highway Patrol said.

Officer Ralph Elvira said the destruction began about 8 p.m. Sunday when the driver of the van, which had been reported stolen in San Diego a day earlier, attempted to pass a car by driving south on the center emergency lane.

Elvira said the van crashed into the center railing about 2 miles north of Castaic, rebounded across the freeway and rolled down a 300-foot embankment, ejecting and seriously injuring its two occupants before exploding in flames and igniting a 5-acre brush fire along the freeway.

CHP officers closed two traffic lanes to make room for firefighting equipment, and traffic backed up more than a mile on the two lanes that remained open.

Shortly after midnight, Elvira said, a tractor-trailer rig carrying a full load of tomatoes lost its brakes when its driver attempted to stop on an incline as he approached the backed-up traffic. The truck crashed into the slow-moving traffic, damaging at least 17 cars, Elvira said.

A few moments later, two other tractor-trailer rigs crashed into the wreckage, authorities said. The pileup closed down all southbound lanes of the freeway for two hours.

“This series of accidents resulted in 21 injuries, anywhere from minor to serious,” Elvira said. All but one of the injured were taken by ambulances and helicopters to four area hospitals. Officials said the majority were treated and released but at least three motorists remained hospitalized.

In a related accident, Elvira said, a CHP officer was on his way to the accident scene when his car was struck head-on by a car that had crossed the center line on Templin Highway near the freeway. The officer, Doug Villers, was taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition. Myron Watts, 23, of Chatsworth, the driver of the car that struck him, was not injured.

Though two lanes of the southbound freeway were opened about 3 a.m., all four lanes were not opened until 5:30 a.m., authorities said.

Elvira said officials did not know the names of the man driving the stolen van and his passenger because they remained unconscious Monday and were carrying no identification. He said they will be arrested on suspicion of grand theft auto when they recover. The driver will also face a charge of reckless driving, he said.