6 Die in Corona Crash; 1 Killed in Van Nuys

Six people, including a child, died in a highway accident in Corona, and a Van Nuys woman was killed and her two young daughters seriously injured when the truck they were in collided with a car, authorities said Sunday.

The Corona accident occurred on a highway interchange late Saturday night when a Honda Civic crossed the double yellow line at 70 m.p.h. and slammed head-on into a van carrying eight members of a Perris family, the California Highway Patrol said.

Three occupants of the Honda were killed on impact. They were identified as the driver, Albert A. Villa, 23, of Chino; Elsa Arroyo, 15, of Corona, and Marina Diaz, 18, of Placentia. A fourth occupant, a boy, was injured.

Five survivors in the van were injured, some of them critically.

An open container of alcohol was found in the wreckage of the 1981 Honda.

The dead child, who was riding in the van, was identified by Riverside County Deputy Coroner Brad Birdsall as Christi Johnston, about 7 years old. Two women in the van, identified as Anna Brass, 28, and Renee Shubin, 29, also were killed.

The boy from the Honda and three people from the 1984 Dodge Caravan were treated at Riverside General Hospital. Van driver Richard Roy Brass, 27, of Perris, sustained moderate injuries, the CHP said. Injuries to the other patients ranged from moderate to critical. One child was treated and released from the hospital, officials said.

At Corona Community Hospital, 6-year-old John Johnston, identified as a brother of the dead girl, was in intensive care, according to a hospital official.

The CHP said injuries to the survivors in the van were minimized because seat belts and an infant seat were used.

The crash occurred at 11:30 p.m. on what a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy described as a dark and dangerous junction where the Corona Expressway (Highway 71) meets the Riverside Freeway (Highway 91), about 60 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

The Honda was moving from the Riverside to the Corona Expressway when it crossed over the yellow line and hit the van, which was traveling south about 50 m.p.h., authorities said.

In the Van Nuys accident, the dead woman’s 44-year-old husband escaped with minor injuries and was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. “He admitted to it,” Los Angeles Police Officer James Van Riper said.

The two children--a 3-month-old and a 2-year-old--were apparently not wearing safety harnesses and were thrown from the truck, paramedics said. The younger child was critically injured, while her sister suffered serious injuries, fire officials said.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Bob Collis.

The early evening accident happened as the truck, southbound on Woodman Avenue, was turning left onto Saticoy Street on a green light and a car driven by Ramon Alvarado of Van Nuys drove through the intersection and hit the truck on the passenger side.

Alvarado, 28, told police he was traveling about 40 m.p.h. and tried to stop.