Man, 2 Women Killed in 3 Separate Accidents

Three people, including the innocent victim of a police chase, were killed in traffic accidents this weekend in the San Fernando Valley, police said.

Richard Nothacker, 31, of Granada Hills died at 12:10 a.m. Saturday when a motorcyclist being chased by San Fernando police broadsided his car. The motorcyclist, Alfredo Preciado, 25, of Pacoima, was arrested at the scene of the accident at San Fernando Mission and Sepulveda boulevards.

Preciado is in serious condition at Holy Cross Medical Center after suffering a fractured leg and arm and internal injuries. He will be charged with murder, Los Angeles Police Officer Dennis Smith said.

Smith said police were chasing Preciado after they spotted him doing “wheelies” in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant. He tried to elude police by driving in excess of 70 m.p.h., the officer said.

Earlier in the evening, Lorraine Rodriquez, 25, of Saugus was killed when the driver of the car in which she was a passenger veered into a parked semi-tractor-trailer in Chatsworth. The male driver, believed to be 33, fled the scene at Winnetka Avenue and Superior Street.

The driver has not been found, Smith said.

On Saturday, a Hollywood woman died when her motorcycle was struck broadside by a pickup truck that allegedly ran a red light at a Northridge intersection, Los Angeles police said. The 27-year-old motorcyclist, whose name was withheld until her relatives could be notified, was pronounced dead at the scene of the 10:35 a.m. crash at Lassen Street and Zelzah Avenue, Officer Bill Mulvihill said.

The driver of the pickup, Weldon Jonathan Allen, 19, of Granada Hills, was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, Mulvihill said.