1 Killed After Motorcycle Hits Christo Viewers’ Car

A Camarillo youth was killed Thursday when the stolen motorcycle on which he was fleeing police at speeds up to 140 m.p.h. slammed into the rear of a car on the Golden State Freeway carrying tourists to see Christo’s umbrellas, the California Highway Patrol reported.

The motorcyclist, Jake Burchfield, 18, died at the scene seven miles north of Castaic and his passenger, a 14-year-old boy whose name was not released, was in critical condition at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia with head injuries, the CHP said.

CHP Officer Tom Nickel saw the motorcycle enter the northbound lanes from California 126 about 100 m.p.h. and began pursuit, with the motorcyclist reaching 140 m.p.h. near the Lake Hughes Road exit, said CHP Officer John Manduca. A computer check by radio revealed that the cycle had been stolen, he said.

After weaving between several vehicles, the motorcycle crashed into the rear of a rented car driven by two tourists traveling to the Umbrellas Project in the Tejon Pass, Manduca said. Neither tourist was injured, although the impact drove the car into an embankment in the center divider.

“Suddenly this motorcycle appeared in the rearview mirrors and seconds later it hit us from behind. . . . They appeared to try and change lanes but couldn’t and hit us,” said the driver, Jens Kroeger, 26, a German citizen staying in Berkeley. “It happened in seconds.”

All four northbound lanes were shut for nearly an hour after the accident about 10 a.m.