4 in Lancaster Family Among 5 Crash Victims

Four of the five people killed in a car accident Monday in Lancaster have been identified as members of a Lancaster family, authorities said Tuesday.

The dead family members were identified as Forest William Kendrid, 41; Arnold Kendrid, 43; Carol Ann Kendrid, 41, and Brian A. Bellamy, a 7-month-old baby.

Also killed in the 5:45 p.m. accident was Helen Lan Stopper, 45, also of Lancaster, CHP Officer Mike Nimback said.

A fifth member of the Kendrid family, Iris Kendrid, was admitted to Antelope Valley Medical Hospital Center with major injuries, Nimback said. Kendrid, a middle-aged woman whose age had not been determined, was listed in serious condition in the intensive care unit Tuesday with a fractured pelvis and internal injuries, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Nimback said information was not yet available on how the Kendrids were related.

The accident occurred at 50th Street East and Avenue I. According to CHP reports, Forest Kendrid, who was driving a 1979 Cadillac carrying his relatives, was headed east on Avenue I when he swerved to avoid a pickup truck crossing the intersection.

Kendrid apparently lost control of the Cadillac, which slid sideways and was broadsided by a 1986 300 ZX Nissan driven by Stopper, who was traveling west on Avenue I.

Forest Kendrid, Arnold Kendrid and Carol Ann Kendrid were pronounced dead at the scene. Stopper and the infant died later at the hospital, Nimback said.

The driver of the 1987 Dodge pickup truck, Gene B. Agnitisch Jr. of Lancaster, 40, escaped injury.

Witnesses told investigators that Agnitisch halted at a stop sign and looked both ways before entering the intersection, which he had almost cleared when the Kendrids’ car approached.

Nimback said an investigation was continuing, but it appeared that Kendrid may have overreacted when he saw the truck.