Skateboarder Dies of Head Injuries After Fall on Steep Street

An avid Simi Valley skateboarder died of skull fractures after he sped down a steep rural street, lost control of his board and landed on his head, the Ventura County coroner’s office said Wednesday.

Nicholas Dulcich, 23, apparently had been drinking before he crashed, but blood test results are several weeks away, coroner’s investigator Craig Stevens said.

A passerby found Dulcich face down on Flanagan Drive in the city’s Indian Hills subdivision just after midnight Monday and called authorities, Stevens said. About 12 hours later, Dulcich died of blunt head injuries in the intensive care unit of Simi Valley Hospital, Stevens said.

“His skateboard was found 66 feet down the hill past him,” he said. “It appears he may have been under the influence of alcohol. . . . Police officers and ambulance personnel noticed the odor of alcohol on him.”

Close friends said Dulcich was a talented, hard-core surfer and skateboarder who was never reckless and always in control--and that the long, smooth run down Flanagan Drive was one of his favorites.

They said they had drunk a few beers with Dulcich late Monday, but speculated that a rock in the road or a car probably was what caused him to lose control. Police said there was no indication that Dulcich was struck by a car, but friends said on oncoming car may have forced him to stop slaloming and take a faster, more dangerous course straight down the hill.

“I don’t think it had anything to do with alcohol,” said Derek Bauerle, a close friend who said he had known Dulcich since they were 4. “I can tell you now he’s skated that hill a lot drunker. . . . He was the best on a skateboard out of any of us.”

Dave Katler, another close friend, said, “He could skate better than he could walk.”

Katler said he and Dulcich left the Tree House Sports Bar and Grill before midnight Monday and spent two hours hiking around caves in eastern Simi Valley before he drove Dulcich to the top of one of Indian Hills’ winding streets and dropped him off for his favorite ride.

Josh Dodson, another friend, added, “He’s, like, an excellent skateboarder without a doubt. . . . Nick always was in total control, and that’s why this was a little weird.”

Dodson said he and his friends had all skated down Flanagan Drive at one time or another.

“I crashed pretty hard there one time and dislocated my shoulder,” he said. “Nick had never even skinned a knee skateboarding. He was usually just so perfect.”

Although skateboard fatalities are rare--four have been reported nationwide this year--34,938 skateboarders were injured in 1993, according to the Journal of the American Medical Assn.