Crash Kills Driver of Car Carrying Chemicals

A 28-year-old man whose station wagon contained chemicals that police believe were intended for use in the manufacture of illegal drugs died in a head-on traffic collision in North Hills, officials said Wednesday.

Joel M. Guinn of Thousand Oaks was killed about 10 p.m. Friday after his vehicle crossed the center divider on Woodley Avenue just north of Roscoe Boulevard and smashed into a second station wagon, Los Angeles Police Detective Dennis Ulick said.

Inside Guinn’s vehicle, officers found one pint of acetone and capsules used to make stimulant drugs. “These are the base materials commonly used in the manufacture of speed,” Ulick said.

Police also found small amounts of nitric acid and methamphetamine, a stimulant drug, in the vehicle, he said.

Initially, officers suspected that Guinn was overcome by fumes from the chemicals and lost control of the car. But Ulick said that was not the case.

An investigation turned up nothing to indicate that Guinn succumbed to the effects of the chemicals he was transporting, Ulick said. “It is possible the containers ruptured as a result of the accident.”

Guinn was pronounced dead at the scene from head and chest injuries.

The other motorist, Juan Calzada, 49, of Pacoima, was hospitalized after the crash, police said. Calzada, 49, suffered facial bruises and was in good condition at Northridge Hospital Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Deborah Moore said.