SHERMAN OAKS : 9 Injured When Truck Sets Off Multi-Car Crash

Nine people were injured--including two critically--in a chain-reaction crash involving a tractor-trailer and as many as 15 other vehicles on the westbound Ventura Freeway near Van Nuys Boulevard on Wednesday, the California Highway Patrol reported.

CHP spokesman Officer Dave King said the cause of the accident is still under investigation because of conflicting reports from witnesses. Initially, it was believed that the driver of the 18-wheel truck, David Thompson, was changing lanes when he apparently accelerated rather than decelerated, and the truck began hitting cars, which then hit other vehicles, according to King.

Later in the day, however, King said that other witnesses reported that the truck was attempting to avoid a collision in front of him. In doing so, the truck driver swerved to his right into other vehicles, which in turn hit other cars.

“Some of the other drivers just didn’t know what happened,” King said.

Wayne Dolin, 41, of Fullerton, came upon the 10:48 a.m. crash moments after it happened and called the CHP on his cellular phone.

“Smoke and dust was still coming off the cars,” Dolin said. “There was a guy in a Mustang who was bleeding from his head and his face. I saw another guy crawling out of a Honda CRX. There was a guy on the ground next to a Blazer.”

Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells said seven rescue ambulances and six fire companies with about two dozen firefighters responded to the crash. Eight of the nine injured were taken to five area hospitals. None of their identities was released. Wells said he did not know the details of any of the injuries. He said a woman who was pregnant suffered minor injuries. She was treated at the scene and then left on her own.

Five of the eight taken to hospitals were treated and released. A 21-year-old man was treated at Northridge Hospital Medical Center for multiple lacerations and a concussion and transferred to Kaiser Permanente Hospital. A 59-year-old man was admitted at Encino/Tarzana Regional Medical Center with head lacerations and a fractured neck. A 29-year-old man remained under observation at the same facility.

No victims were trapped in their cars, but many of the vehicles were severely damaged, Wells said. One vehicle caught fire minutes after the driver was removed.

CHP Sgt. A. J. D’Ambrosio said Thompson, who works for ARM & Associates and was hauling a load of beer, passed a sobriety test and is not expected to be cited for causing the crash.

The crash caused traffic on the westbound 101 to back up to the Hollywood Freeway and created jams on surrounding surface streets for three hours. All the westbound lanes were closed temporarily when officials called for a helicopter to transport victims, but they reopened when the call was canceled after determining that the victims could be moved more quickly by ambulance.

Tate Fitzpatrick, 25, of Santa Monica said he was on his way to the Van Nuys Courthouse when he heard a crash and looked in his rear-view mirror just before the 18-wheeler struck his car from behind.

“I got hit from behind and hit my head on the steering wheel,” Fitzpatrick said while standing on the freeway next to his late model Mercury Monarch, which had its front and rear right corners smashed. “I then got hit on the side and then pushed into another car in front of me.”

Fitzpatrick said he was not injured except for some soreness in his shoulder.

He seemed more worried, however, about missing his court appearance.

“They’ll probably issue a warrant for my arrest now,” he said, mentioning that he had been cited for allegedly selling cotton candy on the street without a permit.