2 Die in Crash When Driver Falls Asleep

Two people were killed in a San Pedro traffic accident when the driver of their car apparently fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into a concrete barrier.

Los Angeles police said Robert Finley, 60, of Harbor City, and Sally Sullivan, 53, of San Pedro, were both ejected from the car driven by Finley in the accident late Monday night. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Traffic investigator Joseph Gryder said Finley was driving north on Gaffey Street about 11:30 p.m. when his car went off the road at 31st Street. The vehicle, Gryder said, plowed through a chain-link fence before crashing into the concrete base of a light pole.

Gryder said an investigation found that Finley had just finished a three-day shift as a longshoreman. That fact, coupled with the time of the accident and the absence of skid marks at the scene, convinced police that Finley fell asleep, Gryder said.