Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Woman, 73, Killed When Truck Hits Car

A man drove a truck through a red light Friday, striking a car and killing a 73-year-old woman, authorities said.

Bertha Olsen of the Friendly Valley retirement community was killed in the three-vehicle crash about 10:15 a.m. at Sierra Highway and Whispering Leaves Drive. Olsen’s vehicle was hit as she tried to make a left turn, causing her car to spin and hit a van stopped at the traffic light.

The truck driver, Steven Dortman, 35, of Hesperia, said to be suffering from AIDS, was listed in critical condition Friday evening at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia with a ruptured spleen, said Deputy Mark Slater of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.

After he was hospitalized, Dortman was arrested for vehicular manslaughter, Slater said.

“I think we have enough from independent witnesses that show him driving in a pattern that shows disregard for others,” Slater said. “That’s at least enough to arrest him, and the district attorney’s office can decide whether to file charges.”

Henry Mayo officials declined to elaborate on Dortman’s injuries.

John McDurfee, a Canyon Country resident, said he stopped alongside Dortman’s truck at a stoplight on southbound Sierra Highway less than a mile from where the collision occurred and saw Dortman swaying back and forth unsteadily.

The van driver, Paul Travers, 55, of Saugus, said he had stopped at the traffic light on the northbound side of Sierra Highway at Whispering Leaves Drive when he saw Dortman’s truck speed southbound and run the traffic light, striking Olsen’s car.

“She was making a left hand turn and the guy in the truck ran a red light and hit her right broadside and she came around and hit me,” he said.

Travers said he was not seriously injured.