Girl Seriously Injured When Car Strikes Skip Loader

A 13-year-old Chatsworth girl was critically injured Tuesday when a car driven by her 17-year-old brother skidded in a rain puddle and plowed into a piece of heavy construction equipment as they drove to school, Los Angeles police said.

Witnesses told police that the brother was driving south on Valley Circle Boulevard in Chatsworth at 7:15 a.m. when the car skidded while rounding a curve at Woolsey Canyon Road. His 1973 Chevrolet Camaro slid sideways into oncoming traffic and struck the lowered bucket of a skip loader, Officer Richard Neuenschwander said.

The girl, a student at Hale Junior High School in Woodland Hills, was pinned in the wreckage for more than half an hour before she was freed by firefighters.

She suffered a fractured right hip and broken bones in her face, as well as possible internal injuries. She was flown by helicopter to Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles, where she underwent surgery. She was in serious but stable condition in the intensive care unit, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Her brother, a student at El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, was taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where he was being held for observation for a possible concussion and other injuries, a spokeswoman said.

Police would not release the victims’ names. The skip loader’s driver, Larry McCoy, a Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks employee, was uninjured, authorities said.

The accident caused traffic backups for morning commuters, particularly those who use Valley Circle Boulevard on the way to work, Neuenschwander said. Valley Circle was closed from Box Canyon Road, north of Woolsey Canyon Road, to Roscoe Boulevard for more than an hour.