Driver Burns to Death in Car Crash : 5-Vehicle Pile-Up on Golden State Freeway Hurts 4 Others

A Glendale man was burned to death in a five-car pileup that left four others injured this morning and closed the southbound Golden State Freeway in Valencia for nearly two hours, the California Highway Patrol said.

The name of the 41-year-old motorist who died in the 12:05 a.m. accident near the Lyons Avenue exit was not released pending notification of his family, the CHP said.

Officer Ralph Elvira said the accident occurred when the Glendale man, driving southbound in a Mercedes-Benz, lost control of his car and crashed into the freeway’s center divider.

The car rebounded into the second lane of the freeway and came to a stop. Two other southbound cars swerved around the Mercedes and also came to a stop, Elvira said. Another car could not stop in time and attempted to swerve between the stopped cars but hit all three, knocking one of them into a fifth car that was driving by.

The impact caused the Mercedes to burst into flames, and its driver was burned to death, Elvira said.

All southbound lanes of the freeway were closed while the fire was put out and the wreckaged was cleared. Elvira said traffic backed up two miles before the freeway was reopened shortly before 2 a.m.

Three drivers and a passenger from the other cars involved in the accident were hospitalized.

Colleen Weeks, 25, of Fresno was in critical condition at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Newhall, and Jerry Gragnani, 40, of Fresno was in stable condition at Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, officials said.

Gragnani’s passenger, Anna Sandoval, 34, of Fresno was treated and released from Holy Cross, and Francisco Gutierrez, 49, of San Fernando was treated at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia for minor injuries, officials said.

An investigation of the accident is continuing, Elvira said.