RESEDA : Couple Killed Trying to Elude Motorcyclist

A Reseda couple was killed Thursday when their car smashed into a tree while they were trying to escape from a motorcyclist who menaced them during a traffic dispute, Los Angeles police said.

Martin Joseph Ruthman, the motorcyclist who kicked the car’s door and shouted obscenities at its occupants as they tried to avoid him, sped away from the 10:45 a.m. crash on Victory Boulevard near Yolanda Avenue, but was apprehended at his Sherman Oaks repair shop, said Detective Rick Swantson.

Ruthman, 33, of Reseda, was being held without bail on suspicion of murder. His wife, Sandra, 27, and friend Dolores Glickman, 49, of Granada Hills, both of whom were riding their own motorcycles with Ruthman during the incident, were questioned and released. The dead couple, a 45-year-old man and his 52-year-old wife, were not identified pending notification of relatives.