2 Killed in Separate Accidents on Topanga Canyon Boulevard

Two people died and two were injured Tuesday in separate traffic accidents on a half-mile stretch of Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Chatsworth, the Los Angeles Police Department reported.

Bruce Rhind, 32, of Chatsworth died after the Chevrolet Camaro he was driving became pinned under a large truck about 11:15 a.m., Officer Jim Thompson said. Eight vehicles, including the truck, were damaged in the unusual chain-reaction crash, caused by a truck rolling backwards out of control.

The truck, loaded with ice cream mix, was headed north when its drive shaft snapped on a grade just south of the Simi Valley Freeway, severing the brake lines. The driver, Dennis Acker, 36, of Culver City, was unable to halt the truck as it began heading down the hill tail first, Thompson said.

Acker swerved into the southbound lanes to avoid cars behind him. But he lost control and the truck crossed back into the northbound lanes, hitting an oncoming car driven by Amanda Piorek, 16, of Northridge, Thompson said.

Piorek and a passenger in her car, David Friedman, 16, of Chatsworth, were treated at Humana Hospital-West Hills for their injuries and released, authorities said.

The truck continued backwards and clipped a second car before it collided with the Camaro driven by Rhind, Thompson said. With the Camaro wedged beneath it, the truck spun and hit a parked car, he said.

The truck came to a halt after it hit a second parked car, setting off a series of collisions that left two other parked cars damaged, Thompson said.

In the other accident, a man driving north on Topanga Canyon Boulevard near Andora Avenue was killed when his car crossed into the southbound lanes and collided head-on with a flatbed truck about 4 p.m. The driver was thrown onto the street and run over by his car, Officer Morris Verdini said. The truck’s driver was not hurt.

Authorities withheld the victim’s name until his relatives could be notified.