Driver Sought in Fatal Crash

Authorities were searching Saturday for the driver of a Datsun pickup that struck a disabled car on the Golden State Freeway near Gorman, killing one woman and critically injuring a second, the California Highway Patrol said.

Maria Ilaban, 69, of San Francisco died at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Santa Clarita shortly after the 5 a.m. accident, CHP Officer Don Coats said. Mirofe Ilaban, 37, of New York City was in critical but stable condition Saturday afternoon at the same hospital.

The relationship of the two women was not known.

The car in which the victims were passengers was involved in two traffic accidents. In the first, a car driven by a suspected drunk driver rear-ended the Ilabans’ car, a Honda, as it traveled south on the freeway south of Hungry Valley Road, CHP officers said.

The impact disabled the victims’ car, Coats said. “Several people stopped and tried to wave traffic around the Honda. But about two minutes later, the Datsun crashed into the rear of the car,” he said.

The Honda’s driver and a front-seat passenger had gotten out of the car, Coats said, but Maria and Mirofe Ilaban had remained in the vehicle’s back seat and were trapped in the vehicle.

After crashing into the disabled car, the Datsun’s driver sped away, though some passengers in the Datsun appeared to be injured, Coats said. That driver is being sought on a charge of vehicular manslaughter, authorities said.

The driver of the first vehicle that struck the Honda, Richard Lugo, 19, of Santa Paula was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor drunk driving, Coats said.