OXNARD : Minister Killed in Head-On Collision
A 71-year-old Oxnard minister was killed Friday night when a pickup truck sideswiped a tractor-trailer and careened into his car, trapping him inside the wreckage, authorities said.
Danilo Gonzalo, who worked as a part-time minister for the Ventura Missionary Church, had to be cut out of his 1985 Oldsmobile after the 6:40 p.m. accident at East 5th Street and Rice Avenue. He was pronounced dead on arrival at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard about an hour later, Ventura County Deputy Coroner Jim Wingate said.
Oxnard Police Sgt. Frank Porter said the fatal collision occurred after a pickup truck driven by William Lionberger, 62, of Camarillo, sideswiped a tractor-trailer that was turning from 5th Street onto Rice Avenue. The pickup, which was headed east on 5th Street, then struck Gonzalo’s vehicle head-on, Porter said.
Authorities said Lionberger also had to be cut out of his pickup, but suffered only minor injuries. The driver of the tractor-trailer, Robert Mack, 63, of Greeley, Colo., was uninjured.
No charges have been filed.
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