Holiday Weekend Claims 2nd Driver

A truck driver was killed Monday when his semitrailer truck hauling special-effects devices for movies went out of control after it blew a tire, and plunged off the side of the Simi Valley Freeway, authorities reported.

Danny Lawrence Rust, 34, of Agua Dulce was pronounced dead about an hour after the accident, Ventura County Deputy Coroner Craig Stevens said. Rust worked for Patwill Productions and was hauling pyrotechnics used in movie-making.

The accident Monday was one of two fatal crashes that marred a mostly uneventful long weekend on the county’s highways. In general, roads were a little more crowded than usual but free of major problems, California Highway Patrol Officer David Cockrill said.

“It’s just a little busier than a typical weekend,” Cockrill said.

Rust was traveling west about 6 a.m. near Princeton Avenue in Moorpark when he lost control of the truck, which smashed through the center divider, crossed the eastbound lanes and went through a guardrail and chain-link fence before coming to rest in an arroyo about 40 feet below the highway.

None of the fireworks exploded, although 150 gallons of diesel fuel spilled into the gully, Cockrill said. Fish and Game officials have not determined if any lasting environmental damage was done.

Because of the time and lighter-than-usual holiday traffic, the accident caused little traffic delay, the California Highway Patrol said.

But later in the day, eastbound traffic was detoured onto the dirt median as workers hauled the wrecked truck out of the arroyo. A backup of about three miles lasted until about 1 p.m., officials said.

Rust’s death was the second traffic fatality reported in Ventura County over the holiday period. Angel Castanan, 16, of Oxnard died when he lost control of his car and slammed into a telephone pole on 5th Street in Oxnard early Saturday.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation. But investigators said they do not suspect that drugs or alcohol played a part in either fatal accident.

In other accidents, Oxnard police and Ventura County firefighters extricated two passengers from the wreckage of a three-car accident Saturday afternoon on Oxnard Boulevard at Citrus Grove Lane. The two were taken to St. John’s Medical Center and are expected to survive.

Investigators do not believe drugs or alcohol played a part in that accident.

Another motorist was found dead in his car Saturday at the bottom of a ravine near West Potrero Road outside of Camarillo.

Authorities believe 66-year-old Marvin Feuerborn of Camarillo plunged off the road on or soon after June 22, when his wife reported him missing.

The CHP arrested 25 motorists suspected of drunk driving from Friday through Monday morning.

Last year at this time, the CHP reported 20 drunk-driving arrests.