3 Killed, 6 Hurt as Car in Crash Plunges Off Freeway

Three people were killed and six others were injured--including three police officers and two motorists who tried to rescue the victims--when a two-vehicle crash on the Hollywood Freeway flung one car through a guardrail and 25 feet down onto a parking area this morning.

The accident, which forced the closure of three northbound lanes of the freeway near Vermont Avenue, tied up morning rush hour traffic throughout downtown Los Angeles.

The three who died were all occupants of the sedan that collided with a pickup truck, ran through the guardrail and slammed, upside down, onto the pavement of a storage facility under the freeway, bursting into flames. None of the dead were immediately identified.

Los Angeles Police Sgt. Mike Barela said another sergeant from the Rampart Division, Skip McOmber, was headed north on the freeway about 6:20 a.m. when he spotted the accident.

“The pickup and the car apparently had collided during a lane change,” Barela said. “The pickup was overturned on the freeway. That car had gone through the guardrail, down into a parking area and caught fire.”

Barela said McOmber radioed for assistance, got out of his car and, along with two motorists, Brett Heisinger of Fullerton and Aaron Jackson of South Pasadena, ran down a freeway embankment, climbed a fence and dashed up to the burning car.

“They actually managed to lift that car enough to pull out one of the victims, who was trapped underneath it,” Barela said. “Then they were driven back by the heat and the smoke.”

Three Los Angeles police officers and the two motorists suffered smoke inhalation in their frustrated attempts to rescue the three occupants of the burning sedan. They were treated at the scene and released.

A woman riding in the pickup that collided with the sedan was treated for her injuries at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital and released. She was not immediately identified.