Woman Killed, 4 Men Injured in 2-Car Crash at Intersection : Reseda: One vehicle crashes into a townhouse, narrowly missing an occupant. Neighbors blame lack of signals on Corbin Avenue for frequent accidents.

A woman was killed and four men were injured, three of them critically, in a two-car collision Saturday in which one vehicle crashed into the side of a Reseda townhouse, narrowly missing the condo’s occupant and her Christmas tree.

Police said the fatal accident occurred about 11:15 a.m. when the driver of a Honda Civic allegedly ran a red light and struck a Chevrolet at Roscoe Boulevard and Corbin Avenue, an intersection described by angry residents nearby as the site of numerous other collisions and near-misses. That intersection has the only traffic signal for several blocks.

Neighbors gathered at the bloody scene--many of them drawn from holiday celebrations by the noise of the crash--said it was the second time in recent years that the same townhouse on the southeast corner had been smashed into.

“This is just a horrible corner,” said Sandy Summers, who was still clad in a bathrobe and had been packing up presents to take to her brother’s house when she heard the collision next door.

“It happens so much, we’re used to it by now,” said another neighbor, Bob Malconian, who was napping with his wife when the accident occurred.

“We just heard the thud and we looked at each other and said, ‘Oh, Merry Christmas--there’s been another accident,’ ” Malconian said.

The woman killed in the accident was Neli Aghakhan, 57, said Los Angeles Police Officer Richard Prindle.

She was a back-seat passenger in the Chevrolet Cavalier that also carried her husband, Roeil Aghakhan, 65, who was taken by ambulance to Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills where he was in serious condition, Prindle said.

The other passenger in the Chevrolet was Ticklat Aghakhan, 30, who was taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center where he was listed in critical condition. Prindle said that it has not yet been determined by police his relationship to the couple in the car.

The driver was Isaac Yaldamooshabad, also listed in critical condition at the Northridge hospital, Prindle said.

Police on Saturday did not know where the occupants of the Chevrolet lived.

The driver of the Honda, John Bocskay, 31, was also taken to the Northridge hospital, where he was listed as critical.

Prindle said witnesses at the scene told police that Bocskay ran the red light “as if he didn’t even see it.”

No charges have been filed in the incident, which is under investigation, Prindle said.

City officials could not be reached for comment Saturday, but frustrated residents said there are insufficient traffic signals along Corbin Avenue in the long stretch between Saticoy Street and Roscoe Boulevard. This encourages motorists to speed along the wide thoroughfare and then get caught unaware by the light at Roscoe, they said.

“They need to do something,” said John Thaemert, referring to city officials. “The people are crazy, they don’t want to slow down. They don’t respect the traffic light and someone gets T-boned.”

“He’s 100% correct,” said another area resident, Roger Lake. “They just race along here.”

Sylvia Santana, who lives in the townhouse where the car crashed Saturday, said she could attest to the constant threat of danger. Two cars had recently run up on the grass in front of her home, she said.

An earlier accident reported by neighbors, in which a car smashed into the townhouse walls, happened before she moved in two years ago, Santana said.

After Saturday’s crash, she appeared calm as she helped firefighters clean up the plaster and broken glass in her dining area. She said she had been working just a couple feet away in the kitchen, putting together some Christmas flower arrangements to take to her mother’s house, when she was jolted by the sound of the crash and the sight of a turquoise Chevrolet Cavalier rammed against the wall outside.

Santana, a saleswoman, said she ran out and unsuccessfully tried opening the car’s doors to help a man trapped inside. Firefighters eventually extricated him.

Although the corner wall of her home was ripped and sagging and a large picture window was badly cracked, the car did not come all the way into the townhouse. Its impact just missed Santana’s Christmas tree, which was positioned between her fireplace and the dining area. One chair of her dining set was ruined, but Santana was not hurt and no other belongings were damaged.

Times staff writer Abigail Goldman contributed to this article.